The 50% figure I referred to is from this article.
(Now back to the A8!)
From the E.E.N., 18 November :
Call for city bus link to Prestwick
A DIRECT bus service should bring tourists arriving at Prestwick
airport through to Edinburgh, SNP transport spokesman Kenny MacAskill said today.
Passenger numbers at Prestwick are on the increase, but Mr MacAskill said an estimated 50 per cent of the 1.4 million people who landed there last year ended up in the Capital.
And he called on Edinburgh and Lothians Tourist Board to instigate a new direct bus link.
He said anyone travelling between Edinburgh and Prestwick at the moment either had to change train stations in Glasgow or spend 15 minutes waiting at Glasgow;s Buchanan Street bus station.
And it was impossible for people with early morning flights to reach Prestwick in time by public transport.
"What we need is a direct bus service to bring to Edinburgh, which is the key destination for many of the backpackers and other tourists arriving at Prestwick."
Mr MacAskill added that he was putting his proposal to Jack Munro, the chief executive at Edinburgh and Lothians Tourist Board.
"What we need is seedcorn funding, a subsidy to encourage operators to start it off and pretty soon the service would be capable of paying its own way."
Mr Munro said he would give Mr MacAskill;s letter careful
consideration when it was received.