Ayrshire entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter has published a remarkable take on Prestwick Airport.
Sir Tom offered his views on social media platform X, after flying into the airport.
He posted on X: “I usually say that the government shouldn't be involved in running businesses. But I take my hat off to the Scottish Government when it comes to Prestwick Airport. Last week when I landed there I was thrilled to hear about all of the job opportunities across engineering, security and warehousing.”
His comments included the broader aerospace cluster, and the major private companies operating there.
Sir Tom Hunter, whose West Coast Capital business is based at Dundonald in Ayrshire, highlighted his view that “those engineering jobs would have been lost” at Prestwick had the Scottish Government not rescued the airport.
The aerospace cluster in and around Prestwick Airport employs thousands of people.
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The Scottish Government rescued Prestwick Airport in 2013, buying it for £1 from Infratil of New Zealand.
In a video accompanying his post on X, Sir Tom provided further details of his take on the Scottish Government’s ownership of Prestwick Airport.
He said: “I always say that the government shouldn’t be involved in running businesses but I take my hat off to the Scottish Government here because if you hadn’t saved Prestwick, the great jobs that are all round there: Spirit..., you have got jet engines being refurbished, you have got Ryanair doing their maintenance, those engineering jobs would have been lost. So I think Prestwick is a good success story and a rare example of the government stepping in.”
Prestwick Airport has increased its workforce greatly over the last year, having achieved major success in winning scheduled e-commerce flights from China.
The Ayrshire airport in December reported its sixth consecutive annual profit. Its operating profit was £3.5 million in the year to March 31, up by around £300,000 on the prior 12 months.
And Prestwick Airport had a highly positive update at that stage on the current financial year to March 2026.
Chief executive Ian Forgie said: “For the current financial year, the business has exceeded last year’s performance, already achieving its annual operating target in the first six months to September 2025, and is continuing to build on its success this year.”
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