The UK needs to act swiftly to stop a “plane drain” from regional airports, and the answer may lie in Europe, according to the boss of Highlands and Islands Airports (Hial).
Inglis Lyon, Hial’s managing director, and colleagues from Aberdeen Airport and north-east transport partnership Nestrans were in London last week to discuss the future of regional air links with members of the Airports Commission.
In June, the commission launched a consultation seeking views on how best to use existing airport capacity and protect the links between regional terminals and London.
Mr Lyon told commissioners Inverness had been successful in gaining new routes to overseas destinations such as Amsterdam, Geneva and Dublin.
But like other regional gateways it lacked the population base to support a diverse network of direct international routes, so relied on good hub connectivity, he said.
Last week’s meeting was ahead of a formal submission by Hial to the commission’s consultation.
Hial, which operates 11 airports across Scotland, is calling on the UK Government to consider using Public Service Obligations (PSOs) to encourage new links to European hubs, in the absence of slot availability in London
PSOs are currently used to support flights from the regions to the capital, such as the new Dundee to Stansted service.
Hial is also highlighting the importance of air links to businesses in the Highlands and islands, with 31% of passengers flying to and from Inverness for work, and the north tourism industry.
Research done for the airport operator found inbound passengers using Inverness Airport generated £38million in annual tourism spending, supporting nearly 900 full-time equivalent jobs.
It was estimated a daily service between Inverness and Heathrow would generate an extra £7million in tourism spending and support an additional 165 FTE jobs in Highland and Moray.
But with Heathrow effectively full, the prospect of a link from the Highlands is remote.
Mr Lyon said: “Access to London and the south-east is vitally important for Inverness because of the connectivity that hub airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick offer.
“The stark reality is that even if we have early agreement in 2015 on where to build the additional runway capacity that most in the industry agree is required, any new runway will take many years to deliver.
“I do not believe we can afford to wait that long. The airline industry is intensely competitive and airlines are pushing for higher returns.
“We need action now to stem the plane drain from regional airports.”
He added: “We need to think more creatively about how we apply EU regulations governing PSOs.
“With Heathrow and increasingly Gatwick operating at full stretch, I believe we need to look elsewhere in Europe – to Amsterdam or even Paris or Frankfurt – to provide the international hub connectivity we need.
“Until we have explicit assurances regarding regional access to the south-east, we may need to look elsewhere to provide the global connections that will allow regions like the Highlands to flourish.”