By Susan Dalgety
One of the key elements was a series of billboard posters placed at key 鈥減oints of entry鈥, in other words, airports. We wanted people to get a good impression of our beautiful country as soon as they arrived. Today, when a visitor from overseas lands at Edinburgh airport they are more likely to be faced with chaos, filthy chaos at that. Last week, Francesca Osowska, head of the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), was so fed up with the Capital鈥檚 airport that she took to social media to express her frustration. On arriving home from Portugal she tweeted sarcastically, 鈥淎nother top class performance by @EDI_Airport. Arrivals hall is filthy, toilets dirty & despite the Porto flight arriving before the Dubai flight, guess which bags were delivered first? Another one hour + wait for bags.鈥 She ended her rant with the question, 鈥淲here Scotland meets the world. What must the world think?鈥 Her outburst was met with a chorus of agreement. 鈥淎 national embarrassment鈥 said one. 鈥淔ilthy, industrial, uninviting, soul-less, chaotic, impersonal,鈥 said another. And a third summed up the problem when he said, 鈥淲e鈥檙e so behind the rest of world when it comes to a 鈥榳elcome鈥欌. No doubt Ms Osowska is now embarrassed by the attention her social media post attracted, and Edinburgh Airport did not mince its words in its public response to her. A spokesman said: 鈥溾s with any business or organisation 鈥 including ones in the public sector like the Scottish Funding Council 鈥 we know we won鈥檛 always get it right鈥he complex nature and range of partners involved in airport operations are often misunderstood.鈥 Around 16 million people are expected to pass through Edinburgh airport this year and during the peak summer months there will be 60,000 a day. Things are bound to go wrong occasionally, but Francesca Osowska is right to highlight the terminal鈥檚 shortcomings. Compared to many European airports, Edinburgh is a bit of a mess. Despite a recent extension, it still seems far too small for the number of passengers. Visitors deserve a better welcome.