350-bed hotel development planned for Capital's airport

TWO major new hotels are being planned for Edinburgh Airport, it emerged today.

An English property developer will shortly be submitting a full planning application for a 350-bed development on Almond Avenue, on the opposite side of the road to the airport control tower.

The seven-storey development will be split into a 150-bed four-star hotel and a 200-bed three-star hotel, with meeting rooms, a bar and restaurant, and a gymnasium. The hotel is also likely to include anti-terrorism security measures.

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Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners (NLP), planning agents for Stockton-on-Tees based developer Theakston Estates, has already held a public display of the plans at Norwood Community Centre, in Ratho Station.

Amanda Brocklehurst, of NLP, said: "We invited two officers from Special Branch along to the display to take a look at the plans and talk about anti-terrorism security and devices.

"We were required to hold the public display by the council, and there are no plans to repeat it elsewhere so we will be proceeding to launch the full planning application shortly."

Edinburgh Airport has one of the smallest room-to-passenger ratios of all major airports in the UK. A study undertaken on behalf of the council has estimated that more than 550 additional bedrooms will be required at the airport by the end of this year.

The developers say that as well as alleviating this shortage, the hotel will bring a number of other benefits to the city, including a 35 million investment at Edinburgh Airport, regeneration of a largely vacant gateway site, approximately 175 new jobs in managerial, administrative and service posts and approximately 325 temporary jobs during construction.

Neil Anderson, commercial director, BAA Edinburgh Airport, said: "We're leasing this land to Theakston Developments for what we think is an exciting hotel development.

"As the UK's fastest growing airport, we know there is a real demand for hotel space both adjacent to the airport and in Edinburgh itself.

"There has been significant interest in the site and we watch the development with interest."

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However, Colin Paton, chair of the Edinburgh Principal Hotels Association, questioned the viability of the scheme in the current economic climate, and challenged the assertion that there was a shortage of hotel space at the airport.

He said: "Edinburgh Airport doesn't need as much hotel space as Heathrow or Manchester as there are currently very few long haul operators flying out of Edinburgh. The airport is also comparatively close to the city centre.

"The majority of airport hotel guests are long-haul flyers who require a stopover for the night, and experience has shown that where possible these people would prefer to stay in the city centre and see a bit of the city before flying out to their destination.

"It will be interesting to see whether this hotel is built within the next five years given the number of developments that have stalled in the last few years, as there is presently a serious shortage of cash to fund this kind of development."

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