PRESTWICK

[Granite City Express]

However there are other ways for PIK to generate income, through cargo, GA, training, property etc but these also have to be managed in the right way and made appealing to parties that might be interested.

Hasn't worked so far. The BA hangar remains empty and the Curries warehouse has lain unused for 5-6 years. No other airlines of any substance have been attracted in the last few years. Ryanair are hanging on until they are made an offer they can't refuse by GLA.

There are very few areas of the business that can be cut back to reduce cost. The workforce already work very flexibly; firemen working as baggage handlers for example.

The terminal desperately needs significant investment to make it attractive to any airline. It doesn't even have a business class lounge.

Cargo? Could that be PIK's saving grace? Both Air France and Cargolux are not in the best of financial health, how can PIK attract new cargo airlines?
There surely cannot be enough revenue in training flights and military activity to maintain a 24/7 operation?

[Skipness One Echo]

The terminal desperately needs significant investment to make it attractive to any airline. It doesn't even have a business class lounge.

I think it has had substantial investment internally in the last decade or so, but structurally is in a bad place. It's way too big for what traffic is likely to use it and has rather high operating costs.

[TSR2]

12-30 Wind Sock

Just for you ...

[12-30 Wind Sock]

Why thank you Kind Sir, finally showing the respect i deserve.

[Granite City Express]

It has a 1960's oil fired heating system, it is draughty and freezing cold in the winter and draughty and cool in the summer. the huge volume of air that needs heated just in the check in area is hugely wasteful and expensive.

Whilst there has been some work in the departure area, it remains unattractive and unsuited for processing large volumes of passengers. It was built for another world, in an era of B707s and Comet 4s that carried about 100 pax in a sedate manner, not 149 low cost pax being processed through with 25 minute turnarounds.

The Aviator Suite has all the glamour, glitz and ambience of a miners welfare club, complete with sticky threadbare carpets.

I am not saying this to be spiteful, but there is a realism that needs to be faced. Just to get to the level of being able to attract any airline there is a significant investment needed. Just to keep the lights on the Scottish Government is spending about a million a month - this is even before we look at changing anything.....

[Skipness One Echo]

The irony being the business has no need for a check in hall at all. One machine at the entrance to security is all FR passengers who "forgot" actually need!
btw it's probably nothing but the old international at GLA has just had all the stands down the end re-arranged to take more B737 sized aircraft within walking distance of the pier. Are easyJet expanding?

[12-30 Wind Sock]

A million a month lol. Just random numbers plucked out of thin air as usually. Skippy this is a prestwick forum. Please leave ur comments or questions about GLA on their forum. Thank you.

[willy wombat]

I don't, as they say, have a dog in this fight, but the "defend Prestwick to the death brigade" might like to have a look at the thread currently running in this forum about the demolition of the terminal building at Mirabel and see whether they can see any parallels (and I don't mean runways).

[Skipness One Echo]

Skippy this is a prestwick forum. Please leave ur comments or questions about GLA on their forum. Thank you.

They're C O N N E C T E D.
The danger is one gaining at the expense of the other, you cannot treat this in isolation.

[Callsign Kilo]

So if FR moved the whole kit and caboodle to GLA, would PIK be forced to close or would it only be curtains for the pax terminal? That's if it were to happen?

Anyway, personally I cant see it happening. I think quite a few in GLA are bitterly opposed to having FR there. PIK is a crap passenger experience but people still use it, I think FR's concern is that it is dead man's shoes in relation to any future expansion. However I really can't see FR in GLA any time soon. PIK will continue to go through the motions.

[willy wombat]

But, CK, PIK can't just continue to "go through the motions" while its being funded by the Scottish taxpayer.

[Callsign Kilo]

Ryanair won't come to it's rescue, 20 years service or not. It won't attract another volume carrier for numerous reasons. So it rests on cargo, training and military revenue along with the odd BA diversion. It's infrastructure is falling apart and must cost god knows to upkeep? So failing a miracle, it will go through the motions or die a death. It holds no strategic importance and hasn't done for years. If Scotland gets independence, PIK will be seen as a luxury that the taxpayer can't afford. There's nothing cheap about Nationalism.

Waiting for the backlash, but I remain to be convinced otherwise. On the other hand, as a commercial pilot, I'd be sad to see PIK go. The Ayrshire coast is always wide open when GLA and EDI are fogged out!

[12-30 Wind Sock]

Skippy please dont shout, it is quite rude of you to shout and i am offended by the tone of your meassages. Is this thread not called prestwick ?. So please jog on to GLA.

[WHBM]

Originally Posted by Callsign Kilo

as a commercial pilot, I'd be sad to see PIK go. The Ayrshire coast is always wide open when GLA and EDI are fogged out!

Notably, the local microclimate led to it developing in the first place. Jack Bamford, Air France manager in London in the 1920s-30s, in his autobiography, writes that when in 1939 he went into the RAF to organise pioneer transatlantic ops (before the US joined the war) he had already noted, on visits to Scottish Aviation for tech work, how fog-free Prestwick always was. And things went on from there.

[G-AWZK]

A million a month lol. Just random numbers plucked out of thin air as usually.

In March Sturgeon reported to the infrastructure committee that more than £5m has been spent on the airport.

At that point 5 months ownership and £5m spent = £1m per month.

[12-30 Wind Sock]

Thank g-awnaw, i didnt know 5 million spent in 5 months was 1 million a month. Thanks for clearing that up for me and on the behalf of granite. Dont you think.this is for initial improvements ?. Surely el capitanos of this forum dont believe the owners will continue to spend 1 million a month. But if its true... All the better for Pik..

[G-AWZK]

windsock,

are you always so rude and childish?

Even if we take the last known loss of £2.2 million, that is still costing the taxpayer about £6,000 per day just to keep the lights on. This is before any investment is made in the infrastructure.

The airport was taken into public ownership on the 22nd of November (?), so that means even if nothing has been spent on investment, up until today it has cost the taxpayer a million quid. If we take the last reported loss of £9.77m, then the daily running cost is nearly £27,000 per day. So that means up until today the taxpayers have provided a subsidy of £4,443,342.47.

This is all academic and based on simple arithmetic and a business as complex as an airport would need some in-depth analysis to work out the true scale of daily loss.

[tartan 201]

The £9.77m is slightly misleading as that includes write downs of asset values. The losses excluding write downs appear to be about half of that, based on this letter http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/S4...March_2014.pdf from the new owners.

[12-30 Wind Sock]

Yes it has been known that i am a tad childish, But never Rude....... Yeah Tax payers have done well to be honest. Im trying to type these figures into my calculator but i need to wait until tommorow when sun comes out so calculator works. The Sun will once again shine on Prestwick Airport , Patience is the Key ,

[Skipness One Echo]

Can you tell us all more about "initial improvements"?