AS someone who began his career in the Strathclyde fire service, Derek Provan might just have the ideal background for his current vocation.

Mr Provan was appointed chief executive of AGS Airports, owner of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports, in January. The role may not literally require him to extinguish fires, but it certainly demands a cool head and pragmatic thinking during turbulent times.

And that is especially helpful when you consider the cross-winds currently buffeting the business, with Brexit, Air Passenger Duty, Prestwick Airport and efforts to replace the loss of key Ryanair routes earlier this year all commanding his attention. The loss of an American Airlines route to Philadelphia was added to that list this week too.

On a personal level, Mr Provan is delighted to be back where it all began for him in the aviation sector 20 years ago. He moved into management at Glasgow Airport after spending five years working in its fire service, which he joined in 1998 after a decade with the Strathclyde brigade.  

A range of roles followed, culminating in his appointment as operations director – three months before the airport was struck by a terrorist attack in 2007.

Mr Provan, who has since held a raft of senior operations positions with Stansted, Aberdeen and Heathrow airports, acknowledged that Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton have all prospered in the past. But he is candid about the depth of the challenges AGS faces now, be it from a political, market or infrastructure perspective.

In Glasgow, much of the energy expended by Mr Provan and his executive team is being geared towards overcoming the decision by Ryanair to shut its base there and slash the number of routes it operates out of the airport from 23 to just three.

“We get some of that impact in quarter four, but 2019 is when we see the full effects of that,” Mr Provan said. “And we have to find a way to get the business back fit for purpose in 2020, because the greatest challenge that we have got at this moment in time is there simply aren’t enough aircraft on the ground for 2019. So, there is a piece of work for us to prepare moving forward.”

At the time of the decision, Ryanair cited its frustration with the Scottish Government over delays to its pledge to cut Air Passenger Duty (APD), declaring the tax has undermined the attractiveness of the aviation market in Scotland.

Mr Provan expressed his own dissatisfaction over the lack of progress on APD, which stems from a stalemate between the Scottish and UK Governments. Holyrood is determined the Highlands and Islands retain their exemption from APD, which requires legislative consent from the European Union. However, the Scottish Government requires Westminster to seek that approval, given Scotland’s membership of the EU comes through the UK. Scottish ministers say Westminster is dragging its heels, but regardless of what is causing the impasse, Mr Provan said it is undermining the competitiveness of both Glasgow and Aberdeen.

In the context of the Ryanair withdrawal, he said: “What that resulted in to us was a 10 per cent loss in passenger numbers at Glasgow Airport.”
And there is more than one dimension to the Ryanair decision that concerns AGS. Mr Provan said the withdrawal of the Irish airline from Glasgow will “realistically” lead to Ryanair putting more of its aircraft back into Prestwick Airport, which has been under public ownership for nearly five years. The Scottish Government acquired the airport to safeguard jobs in 2013 after previous owner, New Zealand-based Infratil, ran up losses of £2m.

The most recent accounts for Prestwick’s holding company state that the value of loans extended to the airport from Transport Scotland stood at £30.4m at March 31, 2017, up from £20.8m the year before, while pre-tax losses narrowed to £8.6m from £9.2m.

Mr Provan said that Prestwick’s publicly-owned status effectively means that Ryanair is being “subsidised” to operate there. 

“All of the money that the government is paying is going straight into that operation,” he said. 

“It would be the equivalent of all that money coming into the Glasgow purse, and then going to the airline. But we can’t do that because we have to make it a commercial enterprise.”

Mr Provan said he understands ministers’ motivation to protect employment at Prestwick, which supports around 200 jobs.

“But the loss of Ryanair to Glasgow is somewhere between 100 and 150 jobs,” he added.

A move back into the private sector for Prestwick, whose long runway meant it traditionally operated Scotland’s transatlantic routes, remains out of reach. Mr Provan said a recent Freedom of Information request revealed that 21 expressions of interest have been made in the asset, but as yet no deal has emerged.

“It’s a constant drain on the public purse until such times as either a new owner [which] can turn it back into a commercial enterprise is found, or something different is done with that infrastructure,” he said.

Mr Provan’s dissatisfaction over Prestwick touches on another sensitive issue. While Prestwick and indeed Manchester Airport offer train links to the heart of Glasgow city centre, Glasgow Airport has for many years now been frustrated in its attempts to establish a similar connection.

Having seen a previous project to establish a rail link hit the buffers – the  Glasgow Airport Rail Link (Garl) proposal foundered over public funding concerns in 2010 – a fresh plan is on the table.

This time, proposals for a £144m “tram train”, which would connect the airport with Central Station in just 16 minutes, have been fully funded under the Glasgow City Deal. Yet much to Glasgow Airport’s frustration the plans remain in the stocks, awaiting sign-off by the Scottish Government. Concerns have been raised over the impact on existing rail timetables and capacity at Central Station, but the feeling at AGS is that these  hurdles can be overcome.

At stake, Mr Provan said, is the transformational effect he believes such a link would have on business, tourism and leisure in the city. He admits the previous project was flawed, but said: “This time we do have a design, we do have a business plan, and we have full funding for it, and yet we have a position where the politicians have still to make a final decision, which I find astonishing. Yet every day we send trains to Prestwick Airport and Manchester Airport. It’s just an astonishing position.”

On the wider political front, it is no surprise that Brexit is uppermost among his concerns.

As the prospect of a no-deal Brexit appears to inch ever closer, Mr Provan said the portents for the UK airline industry are grave. Without an agreement to replace the European Commission Single European Sky arrangement, which accounts for 85% of flights in and out of the UK,  he said aircraft will literally be grounded in a no-deal scenario. “It would be similar to the volcanic ash scenario, only you are planning it, which seems incredible,” he said.

In the meantime, things are slowly beginning to look up in Aberdeen, as the airport recovers from the downturn in activity sparked by the difficulties faced by the oil and gas industry. 

AGS is investing £20m to upgrade the terminal building, which has so far seen the opening of new security, Border Force and baggage reclaim areas. Work on the final phase, which will introduce new retail units, is under way now. Mr Provan said the investment is geared towards “ensuring that we are ready for the growth that we know and expect will come, but we have to get over some of these hurdles.”

Six Questions

What countries have you most enjoyed travelling to, for business or leisure, and why?

I always enjoy visiting Rome be it for business or leisure. The city is steeped in history and the food and drink is second to none.

When you were a child, what was your ideal job? Why did it appeal?

Like many young boys I had dreams of becoming a professional footballer. I signed a schoolboy form (s-form) with St Johnstone but unfortunately the football career never materialised and I had to start thinking about a more traditional career path.

What was your biggest break in business?

Having the opportunity to leave my roots in the fire service and move into a wider airport management role was perhaps my biggest break as it set me on the career path that led to my current position.

What was your worst moment in business?

The worst (and possibly proudest moment) was the Glasgow Airport terrorist attack in 2007, however, I also took a great deal of pride from the way in which everyone who worked there came together. The initial shock of having our airport attacked in such a way quickly gave way to the need to respond and we were able to have the airport open and operational within 24 hours.

What book are you reading and what music are you listening to? What was the last film you saw?

I’m reading Wings on My Sleeve which is the biography of Eric “Winkle” Brown who was the world’s greatest test pilot. It is a truly amazing story of an incredible aviator.  I’m mostly listening to music from the 70s and 80s (to my sons’ horror) and the last film I saw was The Butler with Forest Whitaker.