GLA and EDI too expensive for lo-co's?
AS a regular traveller I'm getting pretty fed-up with this! - Every corner of England and Wales is getting new budget airline service announced whilst BAA Scotland seems to be incapable of sorting things out here :
From the Glasgow eveningtimes Tuesday 29th October:
Glasgow's too expensive to land easyJet
EXCLUSIVE
By David Leask
Chief Reporter
BUDGET airline easyJet has put planned cheap flights from Glasgow to Madrid, Paris and Geneva on hold, claiming it is too expensive to fly from the Scots airport.
The firm today warned that Glasgow would have to wait for new direct routes after it announced a major new investment to offer similar services from the north-east of England.
An easyJet spokeswoman said BAA Scottish Airports, which owns Glasgow and its rival Edinburgh Airport, had failed to come up with as good a deal as that offered by Newcastle Airport, which is owned by local councils.
But Glasgow Airport’s acting managing director David Field, today insisted BAA had made a “very aggressive offer” to easyJet shortly before the airline announced plans to open a new base in Newcastle.
EasyJet, which operates more than 60 flights a week from Glasgow, has long talked about more flights from Scotland to cities at the heart of its European network.
Mr Field said BAA had offered substantial discounts to easyJet on its landing charges, the amount it asks airlines to pay for processing each passenger. He said the offer extended to all European routes.
He said: “We are not just sitting on our backsides. We are working very hard to get new routes.”
Mr Field also called on the Scottish Executive and its agencies to do more to help encourage direct flights.
He said: “There is a lot more the public sector could do, including providing funding to help airlines market new routes and train new staff. I would be surprised if that kind of deal was not on offer in Newcastle.”
SNP transport spokesman Kenny MacAskill MSP also said the Scottish Executive and Scottish Enterprise could do more to attract direct flights, despite European rules that make it hard for governments to interfere.
He said: “Glasgow has already lost out to Cardiff because the Welsh Development Agency helped BMI Baby set up flights there.
“The Scottish Executive must take the lead in delivering the services our airports are capable of delivering.
“The development agencies in Wales and the north-east of England can help deliver services for Cardiff and Newcastle then it’s about time the Executive and its quangos did the same for our airports.”
An easyJet spokeswoman refused to reveal its details but said Newcastle airport’s offer was “brilliant”.
She said: “We had hoped to expand routes from Scotland. We lost that opportunity when Newcastle came up with the goods and Glasgow and Edinburgh did not.
Glasgow and Edinburgh are expensive airports.”
EasyJet has officially applied to the Civil Aviation Authority to fly to several European destinations from Glasgow and Edinburgh, including Madrid, Paris and Geneva.
The airline spokeswoman said the Glasgow routes were still on the cards but would not be introduced in the near future.
A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said: “The Executive is keen to support the development of new routes where they provide economic benefits.”
Newcastle Airport claimed it had been given strong support by Government agencies and a spokesman added: “Our local development company has been very helpful.”
Scottish Enterprise said it was working with the Executive to bring more international routes to Scotland.
Its spokesman said: “We operate within very tight European legislation in terms of what support we can and can’t provide.”