The momentum of Edinburgh Airport remains truly eye-catching, with a couple of very significant announcements in recent days.

These two announcements highlight the extent to which the ambitions of chief executive Gordon Dewar, which he set out when I interviewed him in February, are continuing to come to fruition.

Edinburgh Airport announced on Sunday that Chinese airline Hainan’s direct service to Beijing is increasing from seasonal to year-round.

And United Airlines is extending its service between Edinburgh and Washington DC to what the airport characterised as “almost year-round”.

Mr Dewar emphasised, as the Hainan news was announced, that the airline’s Edinburgh-Beijing route is the only direct connection between Scotland and China, and talked about being “proud” of this.

And he highlighted the fact, in the context of the United announcement, that this US airline has three routes between Edinburgh and the US. Mr Dewar also observed the reality that Edinburgh is “United’s base in Scotland”.

Glasgow Airport is meanwhile continuing its efforts to win direct flights to the US, with its current lack of such services contrasting starkly with the situation in years gone by.

In the February interview, Mr Dewar declared: “I obviously see more opportunity in North America [and] China - with Hainan to Beijing being the first of what I hope will be a number of [China] routes in the future.”

He added: “We are hoping to see Hainan extend the frequency into Beijing in the summer and looking at can we look at making that a longer season for them.”

Edinburgh Airport announced on Sunday that Hainan’s March to October service between the Scottish capital and Beijing would now continue throughout the year, “improving connectivity between the two capitals”.

The........

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