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Ryanair move may threaten Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire Ryanair switches flights to Glasgow
(35 minutes later)
Fears have been expressed for the future of Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire. Budget airline Ryanair has confirmed it is to switch a large number of its flights from Prestwick Airport to Glasgow International.
Budget carrier Ryanair has said it will make a major announcement on Thursday about its services in Scotland. It will hold simultaneous news conferences in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Ryanair is the sole remaining scheduled passenger carrier at Prestwick, which was bought by the Scottish government for £1 last year.
It has been suggested the airline will announce it is to begin flying from Glasgow Airport. The carrier said it would operate 55 flights a week out of Glasgow from October.
Ryanair is the sole remaining scheduled airline at Prestwick. It will continue to fly on seven routes from Prestwick over the winter months.
The Ayrshire terminal was bought by the Scottish Government for £1 last year. It had previously operated 26 routes at the Ayrshire airport.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The airline is important to Scotland's airports and we look forward to working with them in the future. Only about half of Prestwick's revenue is dependant on passenger traffic.
"With regards to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, as the Deputy First Minister outlined in her ICI Committee appearance last month, there is no 'quick fix' solution for the airport - it will require a sustained effort over a number of years." 'Remains committed'
He added: "We are confident there is a place for Glasgow Prestwick Airport in the evolving and increasingly competitive Scottish aviation market, as an airport serving Ayrshire and other parts of the west of Scotland, and are committed to making it the success we know it can be." In a media conference on Thursday morning, Ryanair said the new flights from Glasgow would begin in October.
Ryanair's existing once daily flight from Glasgow Prestwick to Dublin will now switch to Glasgow International as part of an expanded three times daily business service between Glasgow and Dublin.
Despite this switch, Ryanair said it "remains committed" to its long standing base at Prestwick, where the airline has a major maintenance facility.
It said it was currently in discussions with Glasgow Prestwick and the Scottish government to explore growth opportunities to and from Prestwick.
Speaking ahead of Ryanair's announcement, a Scottish government spokesman said: "The airline is important to Scotland's airports and we look forward to working with them in the future.
"With regards to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, as the Deputy First Minister outlined in her ICI Committee appearance last month, there is no 'quick fix' solution for the airport - it will require a sustained effort over a number of years.
"We are confident there is a place for Glasgow Prestwick Airport in the evolving and increasingly competitive Scottish aviation market, as an airport serving Ayrshire and other parts of the west of Scotland, and are committed to making it the success we know it can be."
In June, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced Prestwick was to receive nearly £10m of investment from the Scottish government.
The funding was to go towards operating costs, a repairs backlog and to make improvements to the terminal building.
Ms Sturgeon said a further £5.5m had already been provided already since acquisition.