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Plenary, 19 Jan 2006

19 Jan 2006 · S2 · Plenary

Item of business

Air Route Development Fund

Ingram, Adam SNP South of Scotland Watch on SPTV

Although I can sympathise with the Greens' contention that, in the UK or European context, unrestricted expansion of commercial aviation involves significant environmental costs, I cannot agree with their opposition to further development of direct air routes from Scotland to the rest of the world. Given Scotland's geographical location on Europe's periphery, it is absolutely necessary that we have first-class two-way transport and communication links overseas if we are to survive and prosper in an increasingly globalised world economy. For far too long, our businesspeople, tourism industry and travellers have been handicapped by the all-flights-lead-to-London syndrome. Stopping the growth of direct air routes from Scotland would have the effect of increasing flights to the London hub. Given the economic and environmental impacts of doing so, that would be akin to cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.

That said, the Executive is in danger of exaggerating the benefits of the air route development fund, given the lack of evidence, for example, of the fund's additionality. Should we perhaps praise rather the airlines and airport companies that have invested in direct routes from Scotland for taking the risk and making their venture successful? I would like to know just how critical the ARDF subsidy was for each of those decisions and the extent to which taxpayers are receiving value for money. The SNP supports the broad thrust of the policy, but we suggest that the fund could be more effective with better targeting.

To consider how the fund might be developed, let us take as an example Prestwick airport, which has been the major success story in Scottish aviation over the past five to 10 years. Last week, Prestwick airport announced that yet another low-cost airline carrier—Wizz Air, which is based in Budapest—would launch its first ever Scottish routes to Warsaw and Gdansk. Those routes will be in addition to eight other routes that Ryanair operates between Prestwick and locations across western Europe, from Stockholm to Rome. All those routes are supported by the ARDF and all are successful, whereas the success rate for all other ARDF-supported routes from other Scottish airports is, by contrast, apparently only 50 per cent.

What attracted Ryanair to Prestwick and what sets Prestwick apart from other airports? The answer is surely that Prestwick offers a combination of tight, efficient management, low landing charges and high-quality airport infrastructure. It is notable that Prestwick is Scotland's only rail-connected airport, with some 30 per cent of passengers arriving at the airport by air train. Passengers who travel on the new Wizz Air routes in the first six months of their operation will be entitled to free rail travel to and from anywhere in Scotland; thereafter, they will be entitled to half-price rail travel. Surely the message for the Executive is that, if we want to underpin future growth, we need significant investment in rail links to our airports.

Although the airport's management might not thank me for saying so, Prestwick could probably attract airlines and open new routes successfully regardless of any subsidy, but the same could not be said for its air freight business. That is despite the fact that Prestwick carries more freight than all the other Scottish airports put together. That part of the business has grown by 400 per cent over the past 10 years but, as the minister will know, growth has slowed in the past couple of years due to the downturn in electronics.

An enormous amount of freight that could be flown direct from Scotland is instead trucked down south to fly out from London and the east midlands. We could and should provide more help for Scottish exporters by extending the ARDF to freight. That would help airlines to offset risk and high start-up costs. Tipping the balance in favour of Scottish routes must surely be a strategic objective. For example, Scotland currently has no dedicated air freight routes to the middle east and China. That is a big gap that must be addressed.

The SNP amendment addresses those issues, so I hope that it will attract support from members in all sections of the chamber.

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Plenary, 19 Jan 2006

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