In the six months since taking on the role of Marketing Director at JCDecaux Airport I’ve noticed there’s a tendency to think that “business flying”, “luxury retail”, and Heathrow Airport are synonymous – and of course, to a degree, they are.  Heathrow is the world’s number 1 international airport, with 23 million passengers flying annually on business. But Heathrow does not have the monopoly on UK business travel just as the South-East of England doesn't have the monopoly on successful UK businesses.  Recently posted figures from BAA show that in October passengers through Edinburgh Airport rose 3.5 percent to 854,000 - the encouraging performance attributable at least in part to an increase in business traffic. Over half of all Edinburgh airport users are social class AB, making it every bit as viable a business proposition as Heathrow’s four terminals. In addition, the airport is currently benefiting from a huge degree of investment in the lounge areas, transforming the environment into a location reminiscent in many ways of Heathrow Terminal 5 with its exceptional retail concessions.  This has been accompanied by a corresponding upgrade in the luxury retail proposition. In the last week alone World Duty Free (WDF) has opened three new stand-alone stores at the airport – Jo Malone, MAC and Sunglasses.

Edinburgh Airport Managing Director Kevin Brown says: "The response from passengers on the way the new departure lounge is developing is fantastic. Key to this is the range of high quality retailers including the new additions from WDF. We're committed to giving our passengers a great choice of routes and great airport in which to start their journeys. Working in partnership with WDF allows us to go a long way to achieving that."

This is surely yet another a sign that at long last we’re emerging from the grip of what has been a painful economic recession, and the fact that these developments are UK-wide and not just focused on the affluent South East are clearly cause for great optimism as we move towards 2011.

- Steve Cox 22nd November 2010