Edinburgh Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) have signed a partnership agreement that will develop a new level of co-operation between the two airports.
The capital airports of Scotland and China have agreed to collaborate to develop a shared understanding of markets and shared operational and commercial opportunities. The airports have created a framework that allows close collaboration and the sharing of ideas and experience.
The partnership has its roots in a visit by Edinburgh Airport chief executive Gordon Dewar to the Beijing Global Friend Airports CEO Forum last year as a guest of Beijing Airport. The BCIA team, led by president and CEO ZhiLiang Han, came to Edinburgh to sign the Memorandum of Understanding.
Dewar commented, “We are honored to welcome colleagues from BCIA to sign this partnership agreement. I believe that the shared understanding that it will create will allow us to be more competitive in the Chinese market and brings the prospect of a direct air link between Scotland and China ever closer.
“BCIA is massive organization, processing 94.39 million passengers a year. We can learn lots from them. Our performance in Edinburgh has made airports across the world sit up and take note, and I’m sure that there are areas in which we can offer ideas to Beijing.
“This is an exciting new chapter for our airport and the whole team is looking forward to working together and forging a strong bond.”