This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-27897006
The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Prestwick Airport: Nicola Sturgeon outlines nearly £10m of new investment | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Prestwick Airport is to receive nearly £10m of investment from the Scottish government, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced. | |
| The funding will go towards operating costs, a repairs backlog and to make improvements to the terminal building. | |
| Ms Sturgeon rejected calls to rename it Robert Burns Airport, saying this could cause confusion. | |
| The Scottish government bought the struggling airport for £1 last year. | The Scottish government bought the struggling airport for £1 last year. |
| Ms Sturgeon told Holyrood's infrastructure committee the airport would be operated under public ownership "on a commercial basis". | |
| She said the Scottish government investment would be made "in the form of loan funding". | |
| She added that there was "no quick fix solution for Prestwick" and the airport may not be profitable for several years. | She added that there was "no quick fix solution for Prestwick" and the airport may not be profitable for several years. |
| The airport had a pre-tax loss of £9.77m in its final full year under previous owners Infratil. | |
| Ms Sturgeon is also the Scottish government's infrastructure, investment and cities secretary. | |
| She said the airport would operate as a public corporation on a commercial basis" at arms' length from government. | |
| She added that £5.5m had been provided already since acquisition. and the Scottish government would be required "to provide a further £3m in operating support". | |
| There will be nearly £7m in capital investment - £4.5m for repairs and £2.4m to make improvements to the terminal building, including refurbishment of the duty free area. | |
| Lack of investment | |
| Ms Sturgeon argued that Prestwick had suffered from a lack of investment and there was a "backlog of essential maintenance". | |
| The committee evidence session came after finance executive Romain Py completed a three month review of the airport, including options for ownership, on behalf of the Scottish government. | |
| Ms Sturgeon described Prestwick as a "non-typical airport", with only about half of its revenue dependant on passenger traffic. | |
| She suggested that future revenue could come from freight and retail development. | |
| The airport's executive directors would be tasked with developing commercial opportunities. | |
| A business plan would include an assessment of a reduced Ryanair schedule for summer 2014 and passenger numbers will be monitored. | |
| Ms Sturgeon ruled out renaming the airport after Robert Burns. A petition lodged with the Scottish Parliament by The Robert Burns World Federation earlier this year had called for a name change, with supporters arguing it would boost tourism. | |
| The deputy first minister told the committee: "On balance I have concluded there are strong commercial reasons for retaining the Glasgow Prestwick airport name." | |
| She acknowledged the decision would disappoint some local people but the airport had to be marketed internationally. | |
| She did not rule out a "Burns-related theme" for the airport. |