Rites of passage: Penguin chicks grow up

The 18 penguin chicks hatched this year at Edinburgh Zoo are losing their fluffy down feathers and are being integrated with the adults. The penguins have spent the last few weeks honing their swimming, communicating and feeding skills in the crèche area. Edinburgh’s first flights to Washington DC will take off next May, United Airlines announced.

However, the carrier is also halving its twice-daily Edinburgh-new York flights to daily.

United launched the route to Newark in 2004, but now faces competition from rivals Delta, American and Norwegian.

The airline will also reduce its year-round Glasgow-newark flights to summer only from next month for the first time since it launched the route 19 years ago, as The Scotsman revealed in July.

News of the Washington DC route comes a day after Edinburgh announced its busiest ever August and second busiest month ever, when it handled 1.4 million passengers.

Transport minister Humza Yousaf said the new route would benefit both Scottish businesses and its tourism industry.