Edinburgh passenger's mission to get flights to Mediterranean spot reinstated
A petition has been launched to reinstate direct flights from Edinburgh to Gibraltar, spurred by a man based in Scotland who told of the "expensive and time consuming" trek he must undertake to visit family in Gibraltar.
Brandon Phillips, 27, travels to Gibraltar up to five times per year to visit his parents. He decided to launch the campaign after becoming fed up with hefty £600 travel costs, which he calls "inconvenient" and "financially burdensome".
There are currently no direct flights connecting Scotland and Gibraltar, a UK territory located in southern Spain.
Scots wishing to travel to the region must catch direct flights from cities such as Manchester or London, or grab a seat on a plane from Scotland to a city nearby Gibraltar, which can be hours away by coach or car.
(Image: Supplied)
Brandon told Edinburgh Live: "There are no direct flights from Scotland to Gibraltar which is quite strange. My family are [in Gibraltar] and I am in Scotland and it is very hard to make time to see each other."
Without direct Scottish flights, he says "You have to plan it very well for it to work."
Brandon spoke to Edinburgh Live from Gibraltar where he is currently visiting family. To get there, he and his partner flew from Manchester to Malaga in Spain. They then grabbed a coach to Gibraltar, which takes nearly three hours and costs up around €60 per person. Round trip, Brandon and his partner were left about £600 out of pocket for one visit.
He added: "All we want to do is fly from one British territory from another British territory and that should be easy enough to do. A whole part of the UK isn't able to travel to Gibraltar as easy as everyone else."
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Scottish travellers run into other roadblocks while attempting to enter Gibraltar. Brandon spoke of hassle when crossing borders between the EU and the UK.
He said: "We get stamped when we arrive in Malaga then we get stamped in Gibraltar because we're leaving Spain. On the way back, we get two more stamps. It's four stamp per trip, a whole page in a passport. I have to renew my passport soon because the stamps have filled it up."
EasyJet previously operated direct flights from Edinburgh to Gibraltar but now their services run from London Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, and Bristol. British Airways also offers service from English cities like Manchester.
Brandon and his partner usually opt for indirect flights from Glasgow to Spain to avoid paying for parking in Manchester.
He added: "There's such a huge connection between Scotland and Gibraltar.
"It [used to be] easy and affordable [to travel from Scotland to Gibraltar] and we travelled quite a lot to see each other. The flights were always full and busy. I come from an aviation background for RyanAir and British Airways and know what the aviation industry is like, the demand was there."
A spokesperson from easyJet said: "We concentrate our efforts on routes that prove most popular with customers, focusing on those with the highest demand. We continue to serve customers in the UK with flights to Gibraltar from London Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, and Bristol."
Brandon launched a petition advocating for direct flights from Edinburgh to Gibraltar. If you would like to sign the petition, you can do so here.
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