PLANS to have a Highlands airport and its 'lifeline' flights protected from future closure has been supported with a £1m-a-year taxpayer fund.
Calls have been made for there to be a public service obligation over the operation of Wick airport in Caithness in the wake of its "demise".
It comes following the loss of flights to and from Edinburgh and Aberdeen raising concerns that the regions was being cut off.
A petition lodged with the UK Government for the protection of Wick airport from July, 2020, was rejected, as UK ministers believed it was a matter for the Scottish Government.
Now the Scottish Government's transport agency has said they are making a "significant financial commitment" to help reintroduce flights at Wick Airport.
Up to £4 million will be made available to the Highland Council over the next four financial years to bring back services to and from the airport.
Transport Scotland said the funding will help the Highland Council to "take forward plans for Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes", in consultation with local communities and businesses.
David Avery, negotiator with the Prospect union said: “This is welcome investment in Wick airport which has suffered from the previous loss of commercial passenger routes..
“Adding a PSO route will not only safeguard jobs at the airport itself, but provide a boost to the wider Caithness economy.”
The petition said: "Making Wick airport in Caithness a public service obligation for commercial flights to Edinburgh and or other destinations will increase visitors, investors, and help locals connect to central parts of the UK. "Since the current commercial flights have been cancelled it has devestated our area and this will increase over time. We do not want our beautiful county to be cut off from the rest of the UK and be left behind."
Transport secretary Michael Matheson said: “We recognise the issues faced by the Caithness area.
“This will allow the Highland Council, in partnership with key stakeholders, to take forward plans for Public Service Obligation routes. I am in no doubt they are best placed to determine the services that are required by their communities.
“My officials in Transport Scotland would also be happy to provide advice on the PSO process, as they do with other local authorities which contract air services.
“This offer underlines our strong support for restoring air connectivity to the Caithness and Sutherland area and we look forward to working with the Highland Council to bring flights back to Wick Airport.”
Local MSP Rhoda Grant has said that the writing was on the wall for Wick Airport’s vital air links as early as 2018.
In October, last year she lodged two parliamentary questions asking what action was being taken after Loganair ended its Wick-Edinburgh service and Eastern Airways pulled out of its Wick-Aberdeen route.
She says the answer was that the aviation industry has been profoundly impacted by Covid-19 and that the secretary was “considering carefully the business case” submitted by Caithness Chamber of Commerce.
Commenting on the development, the Highland Council's economy and infrastructure committee, Trish Robertson said: “We have been highlighting to the Scottish Government, the pressing need for an ambitious new approach to protecting vital regional aviation links, particularly in relation to Wick John O’Groats Airport, so this is a positive step forward. However, we really do need to fully understand the fiscal implications both for the council and other partners before making a decision.
“We need to ensure that a sustainable funding model can be put together to deliver a long term future for Wick John O’Groats Airport. This will require continuing engagement."
The council have been asked by the Herald whether it would be implementing any public service obligation and is awaiting a response.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel