PASSENGERS at Edinburgh Airport will be treated to a merry sight after the iconic control tower was lit up in Christmas lights for the first time by a Ballingry boy.

The tower has been decked in around 20,000 lights to mark the festive season and will be seen by both arriving and departing passengers. It’s the first installation of its kind in the UK.

The big red button was pushed by ten-year-old Ryan Rafferty, from Ballingry, who won a competition to turn them on.

He was put forward by his mum, Elaine, as a reward for all of this hard work at home and school after spending four weeks in hospital recovering from a serious injury.

Edinburgh Airport’s Chief Operating Officer Adrian Witherow thanked Ryan for switching the lights on and said: “The control tower is one of the city’s and Scotland’s most iconic structures and what better way to make it a little more special than lighting it up for Christmas.

“It’s a great welcome for those arriving into the capital to spend time with family or see what the city’s Christmas festivities have to offer, and a great send off for those heading the other way. We also want to spread some Christmas cheer to staff.

“And like everyone else, we also had to sit and untangle the lights before dressing them on our own unique tree so you can imagine our delight when everything turned on successfully!”

Ten-year-old Ryan said: “It was very exciting because Christmas is a special time and it was a very special job to turn the lights on.

“It really meant a lot to me as I’ve never done anything like this before and I’m very proud to be given the opportunity.”

Kay Gillespie, Passenger Experience Leader at Edinburgh Airport said: “We always like to bring Christmas cheer to passengers at the airport and we’ve taken that a step further this year – bringing Christmas to the surrounding area.

“We’re also glad to be helping Santa find his way to Edinburgh a little easier as he’ll be unable to miss us!”

Charlotte Garvie is Managing Director of The Christmas Decorators Edinburgh and said: “When we were given the challenge to light up the air traffic control tower there was a lot of excitement but ultimately a momentary 'how on earth are we going to do this'.

“Creating solutions to things that popped up along the way was made 100 times easier working with the professional and enthusiastic airport team. We hope everyone enjoys the extra sprinkling of festive sparkle this year!”

Just under 2,000 metres of cabling has been issued for the lights.