Guide Friday's challenge
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• In a fresh challenge to Lothian Region Transport in Edinburgh, tour operator Guide Friday has launched a halfhourly service between the city centre and Edinburgh Airport.
The Guide Friday service, Edinburgh Airbus, complements its successful open-top city tourist service which was introduced in May. This spurred Lothian to convert six Atlanteans over the summer months to compete with Guide Friday's ex-Nottingham Atlanteans and Fleetlines.
Closed-top Atlanteans are used on the new Airbus service, competing with new Leyland Olympian coaches on LRT's Airlink. The new service features a courier and a telephone link, and will divert to serve major hotels on runs back to Edinburgh.
Fares are slightly higher than Lothian's, but Guide Friday does not see this as a problem. The service will be used to draw attention to the tourist operation, which continues through the winter on a reduced frequency.
Guide Friday says that its first summer of tours operation in Edinburgh has exceeded expectations. Lothian, which previously had a virtual monopoly of coach touring in Edinburgh, has changed its strategy to concentrate less on traditional tours, and more on its highprofile open-top sightseeing operation.