Edinburgh Airport may be one of the world’s worst but who’s really to blame?

I spent a decade as a member of the Glasgow Airport Consultative Committee during which Gordon Dewar was managing director for some of the time. He was a first class executive. He is now in a similar position at Edinburgh Airport and I should think that much of the credit for the success and expansion of Edinburgh Airport is due to his leadership.

It was with some surprise that I learned today that Edinburgh Airport had been list- ed among the three worst airports in the UK. However, my experience of the airport was less than successful this week.

I flew into the airport in the afternoon. The captain switched off the engines of the 737 and the passengers made ready to “deplane” (to use an Americanism). The captain then asked us to resume our seats. He had been told where to park the aeroplane and had parked it correctly.

However, it was now found we could not use the airbridge and so the aircraft would have to be moved. We sat patiently and waited. The captain then resumed his broadcasting role to advise that a towbar was required to move us and someone had gone to find one. After around ten minutes the necessary equipment was in place and we were pushed back a very short distance. Steps were then manually brought to the aircraft, the cabin crew opened the door and finally we were able to disembark. We entered the terminal and were ushered upstairs. Our progress was limited because there were doors across the corridor and they were locked. Tempers were coming to the fore.

Once again we had to wait until a chap with a hi-vis jacket appeared and opened the door without apology. At last we were able to proceed through immigration and customs to baggage retrieval. Had we not suffered enough? Oh no. A screen advised that the bags from our flight would be on carousel X but after a long wait they entered the baggage hall on carousel Y. By now it was one hour since we had landed at the airport.

Listening carefully I heard the fellow passengers criticise the airport. The word “rubbish” was one of the more polite descriptions.

I too was thoroughly fed up but the problem is that many of the faults had not been the fault of the airport but the agents used by the airline to park the aircraft and deliver the bags. Airports are frequently criticised for poor service and, while they are not always blameless, most of the actual “service issues” are more likely to be the responsibility of the airline and its agents.

I am saddened that Edinburgh Airport should be listed as a poor airport. As a resident of the capital I believe that most of us are rather proud of our airport. PAUL JA ROBERTSON Pinkhill Park, Edinburgh