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History
Edinburgh Airport started life in 1915 as an air base, called Turnhouse Aerodrome, after the part of Edinburgh it is located in. After the establishment of the Royal Air Force, the airfield was renamed to RAF Turnhouse, and remained the property of the Ministry of Defence. In 1939 the grass strip runway was paved to construct what is now the secondary runway, runway 12/30. The runway was originally 3,900ft long, however in 1952 this runway was extended to 6,000ft, to allow the Royal Auxiliary Airforce to operate their newly acquired Vampire FB5s from the airfield.

The first commercial flight took off from Edinburgh in 1947, operated by British European Airways (who would later merge with BOAC to form British Airways). The flight was a shuttle flight linking Edinburgh to London, a route that is now the busiest in the UK.

In 1960 the Ministry of Defence transferred ownership of the airfield to the Ministry of Aviation, who would later become the British Airports Authority, in 1971. This was also the year that the second runway was constructed.  A new terminal was also constructed alongside the new runway, forming the base for the current terminal which continues to grow. The old hangars that were used during the airfield's military years were converted for use as cargo storage, and the area was transformed into the current cargo centre.

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Information based on text by Bill Gleeson with grateful thanks. Some photographs kindly contributed by Deejay - no use without permission.
Edinburgh Airport Unofficial Guide © 2007 C Braham.  Information here is intended as a guide only and is subject to change. The author accepts no responsibility for external links.