Question reference: S4W-01463
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 4 July 2011
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Current status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 July 2011
Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with (a) the UK Government and (b) other bodies about protecting landing slots at Heathrow Airport for domestic flights from Aberdeen in each of the last three years.
Answer
The issue of the protection of access to slot-constrained airports such as Heathrow is always at the forefront of our dialogue with the UK Government and its Regulators, both at Ministerial and at official level. I had discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport in February on this issue in the wake of bmi’s announcement to withdraw its Glasgow/Heathrow service. This was followed up by an exchange of correspondence.
Continuing access to global hub airports is essential for Scottish business and to maintain our competitiveness and to sustain economic growth. We will continue to lobby for an adequate protection mechanism, including through the current UK Government consultation on a new sustainable aviation policy framework.