A key Dundee business leader has questioned the case for Dundee Airport in the wake of new figures revealing its plummeting appeal.
Tim Allan, chief executive of waterfront developer Unicorn Property and president of Dundee & Angus Chamber ofCommerce, said: “I think the time has surely come to question its relevance because it clearly does not enjoy the support of the business or travelling public.
“My personal view is that the economic interests of the Dundee area would be better served by having better transport links with Edinburgh Airport which offers far more flights to London at a fraction of the cost of flying from Dundee.”
The property developer’s opinionchimes with that of Edinburgh Airport chief executive Gordon Dewar, who has questioned the spending of £3 million of public funds subsidising the Dundee to London Stansted route.
Mr Dewar also thinks public money would be better spent on enhanced transport links to Edinburgh Airport, where flights to the UK capital are far more plentiful and cheaper.
The issue was brought back into focus by the latest figures from HIAL, owners of Dundee Airport, which showed only 22,865 paying customers used the Riversidefacility in the last year less than 450 a week.
Benbecula, Wick and Islay within the HIAL network all welcomed morepassengers during 2014.
The main Dundee passenger services in that time were the twice daily Flybe-Loganair flights to Stansted and weekly summer flights to Jersey.
Mr Allan said: “Members of the chamber were surveyed about the airport and they considered it was not a priority for them, and I personally am very much of the same view.
“It is far too expensive. The tickets are supposed to cost from £150 return but when I use the service I am never able to fly for less than £250 and often it is for much more than that.
“The last time I checked out the price I discovered it would have been cheaper to fly to New York than to London. That isridiculous.
“Why would someone pay almost £400 for a return flight to Stansted from Dundee when you can fly from Edinburgh for less than £80 return? I visitLondon once a week and I fly from Edinburgh for that reason.
“We should stop being parochial and obsessing about the importance of having an airport in Dundee when the reality is that it does not offer a goodservice and I think never will.
“What is more important is to have good transport connections by road, rail and air. Dundee is a great city with a really positive story to tell these days.
“What Dundee needs is an hourly rail service toEdinburgh in the south and Aberdeen in the north. A new gateway railway station is being opened at Gogarburn in 2016 with a tram connection right into Edinburgh Airport.
“We in Dundee should be campaigning for the rail operators to provide a fast,regular and reliable service to that newstation for people in the Dundee area.
“An hour’s train journey between anairport to a city is absolutely nothing to a traveller.”
The business leader believed Dundee Airport, with its restricted runway andclose proximity to housing, is unlikelyto attract a major airline operator andits viability will always be distinctlylimited.
It does enjoy the support of the citycouncil, and Mr Allan continued: “Iwould like them to explain whatactually is their business case for theairport?
“There is a perspective that it should be kept open to attract a helicopter operator to serve the offshore energy industry. Is that a realistic prospect in the presentcircumstances?”’Dundee flights always nearly full’Will Dawson, Dundee City Council’s development convener and chairman of regional transport body Tactran, said he was disappointed at Mr Allan’s comments.
He believed it was still early days in the life of the Stansted service in being just halfway through the three-year Public Service Obligation subsidy period, and that there are grounds for optimism.
“My information is that the actual flights to and from Stansted are always nearly full so the service is receiving public support,” he said.
“It also has the full support of Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government, and we are working with them and the owners HIAL to ensure we get the best value for the city from Dundee Airport.
“If people book early enough they can get the cheaper fares and travelling from Dundee offers many advantages.
“It does not involve the wear and tear of using Edinburgh like extra travelling and parking time and costs, and longer check-in times.
“More business people are choosing to fly from Dundee, and with so many good things happening in the city we believe the Stansted service is well placed to serve this growing market.”’Cheaper and more convenient alternatives’Edinburgh Airport chief executive Gordon Dewar welcomed Mr Allan’s comments.
He said: “We continue to seek justification of why this subsidy is considered value for money and ask who will benefit frompaying over £300 for a return ticket on this service on top of the largegovernment subsidy.
“We currently offerpassengers the choice of over 50 daily flights into five London airports.
“Each of these services provides a cheaper and more convenient alternative than flying from Dundee and can save passengers over £200 compared to the cost of flying from Dundee, and does not requiregovernment subsidy ontop.
“Edinburgh Airport is not subsidised and we believe that the £3 million used to pay for the Dundee service would be muchbetter spent improving the transport links between Dundee and Edinburgh.
“These argumentsare clear justifications that the cost of travelling to London from Dundee is just not sustainable or affordable for the passenger and makes no economic sense for the Government,” he added.Heavily subsidisedThe Dundee toLondon Stansted route, which took off almost a year ago, has always depended on a heavypublic subsidy.
First it received a £400,000 grant from Dundee City Council and the Scottish Government, and then a £2.85 million grant from a UK Government route development fund.
The money was awarded in response to the city council andScottish Government arguing that a London air link was vital to Dundee’s economic future.
More than half of the respondents to a Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce study said they did not regard the subsidy-supportedservice as important to their business, however.
Flybe-Loganair took over from a Cityjetloss-making service to London City Airport. Its high fares were cited as the reason for lowpassenger numbers.