Yahoo News Prestwick Airport 'a black hole for taxpayers' cash' after MSPs told it makes no money from passengers
Prestwick Airport has been called a "black hole for taxpayers' cash" after its bosses admitted it makes no profit from passengers and hinted commercial flights could be cut further to save money.
Stewart Adams, the airport's chief executive, told Holyrood's rural economy and connectivity committee that an economic review of its operations is now being carried out to identify which operations were a "real drain on resource".
He said attracting more passengers to the Ayrshire site was proving "very difficult" and Ian Forgie, the airport's finance director, admitted it would be "wound up" if asked to settle its £40 million of loans from the taxpayer.
SNP ministers insisted the airport, which was losing £800,000 per month in the private sector, could be turned into a viable enterprise after the Scottish Government bought it for £1 in 2013.
But Mike Rumbles, a Liberal Democrat MSP, told the committee it has made a £24 million loss in the four years since going into public ownership, compared to a £25 million loss in the preceding four years.
The Tories warned the SNP "crunch time" was approaching over whether more public money should be spent on the airport and castigated its bosses for having failed to calculate the profitability of its passenger operations.
Prestwick bosses tell Rural Economy Committee that the passenger side does not make any money. That is part of a review of services, as is actual use of the airport which has made a loss for last 9 years.
— Colin Mackay (@STVColin) June 20, 2018
Their purchase business plan predicted annual passenger growth of 10.2 per cent in the first five years. But passenger numbers were only 702,000 in the year to March, up 3.5 per cent on the previous 12 months but barely half the 1.1 million recorded in 2012/13.
Ryanair is the airport's sole passenger operator. Among its income sources are military flights by the US Air Force and the nearby Trump Turnberry golf resort.
Mr Adams told the committee: "The cost of passenger operations will be looked at. It's clear that the passenger side of the business does not make money. Passenger numbers certainly need to increase but it is very difficult at the moment."
Mr Rumbles asked: "It looks to me that the Scottish taxpayer will never get their money back from your airport, wouldn't you agree?"
Mr Forgie said the strategic plan is to return the business to profit, and analysis being carried out would help understand which parts made a profit and a loss.
But Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's economy spokesman, said the airport has become a "black hole for taxpayers' cash". She and Jamie Greene, the Tories' transport spokesman, said it was "astonishing" that the airport's chiefs have not calculated the loss or profit made by its passenger operations.
He said: “Surely we are close to crunch time on deciding whether it is right to subsidise Ryanair’s commercial operations in this way with taxpayer’s money."
A Scottish Government spokesman said it "wants Prestwick to continue to grow as an aviation facility with a long-term future.”
A spokesman for the airport said "success in turning Prestwick around will come with a broader approach to business development", with less emphasis on air passenger operations. It is hoping to be chosen as a hub for construction materials for Heathrow's third runway and the UK's spaceport.
