AILING Prestwick Airport is to target increased "military business" including US Air Force flights as new figures show it generated a pre-tax loss of over £9.2million.

The latest accounts for the airport show passenger numbers have dropped to 624,000 - around a quarter of the business it was attracting less than a decade ago.

Around £40 million of public money will have been ploughed into the airport by the year end, which means it will have exhausted its share of state funding five years early, watchdogs have claimed.

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Now bosses at Prestwick Airport have outlined a range of money-spinning options including attracting more military business.

Airport accounts reveal that Prestwick had increased military aircraft handling by a third in the three years to 2016.

Human rights groups have previously voiced suspicions that the airport had been a stop-off point for rendition flights en route to the US.

Police Scotland still investigating the potential use of Scots airports by the CIA.

Leading campaigner, the attorney Clive Stafford Smith, has warned that the election of Donald Trump could see an increase in "torture flights" touching down at UK airports.

Identifying military flights as a rich seam, Prestwick's chief executive Ron Smith said: "The volume of military movements flying across the Atlantic each and every day is vast, and the ongoing trend for closures of military airfields across Europe is pushing more and more of this business into those commercial airports approved to handle military aircraft.

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"Therefore the opportunities for growth in the handling of military flights at GPA are significant. The Business Development team are heavily focussed on building on and establishing new key relationships with the MOD, USAF, RCAF and other air forces worldwide to ensure the airport is firmly at the top of their preferred operational airport lists."

The accounts show turnover at Prestwick had reduced to £11.5m - down from £12.4m the previous year - as a direct result of reduced passenger numbers.

After tax its operating losses had widened to £8.7m.

The Scottish Government bought the airport in 2013 after former owner Infratil failed to attract a buyer having placing the airport on the market for 18 months. Since then, ministers have significantly revised downwards their estimations for passenger growth.

In late 2016 its potential as the UK's first spaceport were given a boost through a tie-in with NASA-linked US operators looking to break into the same market. But that now appears to have suffered a blow after it emerged plans for legislation to enable the development of the UK's first commercial spaceports have been delayed by Brexit.

The airport added that it was optimistic of increased passenger numbers due to new routes announced by Ryanair last year and that these would begin to be reflected on the figures from late 2017.

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Mr Smith added: "The airport is in regular communication with a variety of airlines and operators, as well as the military and other commercial partners as it strives to attract new business. The airport is the only rail connected Scottish airport, with excellent overland access to the whole of Scotland and the north of England. It has passenger growth opportunity within its core catchment area as well as the potential to double the current throughput from its wider catchment area."

A Glasgow Prestwick spokeswoman said: "Glasgow Prestwick Airport has appointed an operating board and has a new executive team in place who are working to rebuild the business to deliver an airport that is profitable and suitable for the long term.

"The repositioning of the business will take time. We believe we are starting to move in the right direction with passenger numbers increasing, new property leases being agreed and the securing of a US government fuel contract in financial year ending 31 March 2017.

"We had forecast increased losses in financial year ending 31 March 2016. This was primarily due to the movement of a number of Ryanair flights to other airports. However, the losses reported are less than what was forecast in our budgets."