Following recent reports that North Ayrshire and Arran Conservative councillor, Tom Marshall, was reported to have commented that it may be better to close Prestwick Airport, local candidate in the forthcoming Scottish Election, Jamie Greene gave his view on the matter.
In a statement released by Mr Greene he said “I spoke to Tom and he said he made it clear that the view he shared in Radio Scotland’s “Big Debate” last week on the long term viability of Prestwick, when pressed to answer, was entirely a personal one and that he was speaking neither on behalf of the Party nor the Glasgow Airport Consultative Committee. He spoke to me about his concerns that state intervention has cost the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds to date since the Scottish government bought it for £1. A fact we cannot deny or refute. This is in line with previous Scottish Conservative comments that the SNP needs to implement a viable business model for the airport not endlessly plough taxpayer money into it ad infinitum, with the long term goal to be to offload it back into private hands.”
The statement continued “given that I have been asked for my personal view on it, then I am happy to share that. I see the importance of Prestwick Airport, the local jobs it creates and the potential for tourism that benefits Ayrshire and the West of Scotland. I think there is potential for Prestwick in the long term and that may require an element of patience before the investment starts to see positive return. It is disappointing that it is not handling more commercial flights but there are immediate opportunities for cargo, disaster relief, training and private aviation which could be developed further. At the same time there needs to be proper management in place and a go to market strategy that will help Prestwick stand on its own two feet and attract further airlines to it. I also think the opportunity for it be used as a Spaceport are very exciting and should be progressed. I would support the Scottish Government on that. I take on-board Tom’s point though, I would like to see a clear strategy and definitive plans for progress to be made at Prestwick to justify the public money going into it. If they can do that then they have my support.“
Mr Greene was also pressed for his views on Air Passenger Duty, which is due to be devolved to Holyrood further to agreements made after the independence referendum one year ago. He added “If the Scottish Government in Holyrood is able to use this devolved power to reduce the cost of travel, attract new business to our airports then I think that’s good news, especially if it increases traffic through our airports, Prestwick included. I just hope the SNP don’t jeopardise this further devolution by seeking to derail the Scotland Bill in Westminster”