The Scottish Government must act to support Scotland’s airports
and develop new routes so that they can unlock the economic
potential of the nation, has said today.
Speaking ahead of a visit to Glasgow Airport on Tuesday, the
Scottish Labour leader accused the SNP of ‘sitting on its hands’
while Scotland’s airports and the communities that they serve
struggle.
Glasgow Airport has confirmed that it is still only running at
86% of its pre-covid capacity and in recent years Glasgow Airport
has lost vital connections to North America and other economic
hubs, leaving Scotland’s largest city with poor connections to
global businesses.
A 2017 report from Airlines UK and the ABTA showed that all of
Scotland lagging far behind in global air connectivity, ranking
10th out of 11 similarly sized European countries.
Industry leaders across Scotland have called for a focus on route
development in order to bring investment into Scotland and to
boost the country’s tourism and hospitality sectors.
Scottish Labour has said that this decline was a symptom of the
SNP’s record of “managed decline and economic failure” and has
demanded action to put aviation and route development at the
centre of Scotland’s economic recovery.
Commenting, Scottish Labour leader said: “Scotland’s
airports are the gateway to our economy, but years of government
failure has pushed them to breaking point.
“This damaging drop in connectivity in Glasgow and across
Scotland is consistent with the SNP’s record in government – one
of managed decline and economic failure.
“The SNP is choking off Scotland’s potential by letting our
connectivity collapse.
“Without a focus on route development connecting Scotland to the
rest of the world, our tourism and hospitality sectors risk
declining.
“It’s all too clear that SNP inaction is holding Scotland back
and disconnecting Scotland from the rest of the world. We need to
sell Brand Scotland to the world, not turn our backs to the
opportunities that exist.
“Our airports are key to us unleashing our economic potential and
taking our place on the world stage – we urgently need a plan to
get them back on track."
ENDS
Notes to editors
- According to Glasgow Airport, it is currently running at
approximately 86% of its 2019 capacity.
- Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Scotland’s connectivity was
lagging behind other nations. A report carried out by Airlines
UK and ABTA in 2017 benchmarked Scotland’s aviation
connectivity against that of other similar sized European
countries. Our of the 11 nations considered, Scotland ranked
10th in terms of countries served and
9th in terms of destinations. One of the key
findings stated: “Despite having the eighth largest
population of the 11 countries, Scotland generally ranks
10th in terms of connectivity – ahead of only
Iceland (with a population 1/20th the size of
Scotland’s). Ireland and Norway are smaller in terms of
population but have measurably greater connectivity than
Scotland.”