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Joe Curry · Guest

EDI **WIDEBODY** STANDS - FAQ

**Widebody** referring to aircraft in excess of B767 size upwards. ie;
A330/A340/B777/B747

There are no stands at EDI that can handle aircraft larger than B767,
in terms of wingspan without displacing stands either side.

BAA's literature on available (2006)stands states.

Small = 18
Medium = 10
Large = 3
Jumbo = 0

A breakdown on these size samples..

Small B737-600, Embraer, BAe 146
Medium B757, A319
Large B767
Jumbo B747, B777

Source: Edinburgh Airport Master Plan July 2006

OK, EDI has 3 stands (plus block 33, but we'll leave that for now)
that are capable of handling widebodied aircraft.

This from BAA.. May 2005: (EDI currently has 26 aircraft parking
stands
of various sizes. including two jumbo stands which can accommodate
Boeing
747 aircraft but which are more generally used to accommodate 2
medium-sized aircraft each)

The regulars amongst you will notice 6A and 12 are not used generally,
this is because they
infringe the 2 stands either side of them, namely 5 and 6, or 11 and
14. 16 is a slightly better
option, as the stands on that ramp are less used, except that it is a
remote stand at the moment,
and until BAA build a walkway, moving a full widebodied load of
passengers by bus requires
more bus drivers and cargo handling etc equipment than BAA can easily
dedicate to the task.

Also 6 is generally used by the regular Midland Heathrow flight, and
14 is the Irish EasyJet
and FlyBe flights, so they're stands the airport can not do without
for a long period.

The problem with having a regular flight is that it will seriously
reduce the available stands on
the main apron at EDI for the duration it's here - plus various other
considerations during pushback
etc that require different procedures.

If it's timed when the airport is quiet, great, except it takes
probably near on 3 hours
(at an absolute minimum) to turn one around, and there isn't a 3+ hour
quiet time at the airport
anymore. Also, the operators, be it Emirates, EAL, Virgin, whoever,
want to schedule their flights
when they want them, not when the airport says they can have them,
which isn't necessarily ideal
from a stand allocation perspective.

So, that's why it's said EDI has no widebody stands. Not strictly
true, but logistics almost dictate
that it is true.

------------

Abridged from a post to alt.airports.uk.edinburgh on
3rd. August 2005

Acknowledgements to edi spotter

Updated by Joe Curry 28/09/06

--
"Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland yet
Edinburgh's people have to use other cities airports
for most direct long-haul flights! How embarrassing is that?...."