S1M-3758 Glasgow to Barra Air Link

Scottish Parliament

Wednesday 15 January 2003

[THE PRESIDING OFFICER opened the meeting at 14:30]

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Glasgow to Barra Air Link

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Mr George Reid): The final item of business today is a members' business debate on motion S1M-3758, in the name of Duncan Hamilton, on the Glasgow to Barra air link public service obligation. The debate will be concluded without any question being put. I invite those members who wish to contribute to the debate to press their request-to-speak buttons now.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament notes with concern the decision to announce a one year contract for the Glasgow to Barra air link; recognises that such contracts are normally awarded for the three years of a public service obligation (PSO) order; recognises the unanimous view of the community that any loss of the direct air link would result in damage to the local economy and tourism and create hardship for those attending hospital and receiving life-saving treatment in Glasgow and beyond; notes that the Deputy Minister for Transport, Lewis Macdonald MSP, attended a meeting on the island of Barra and assured islanders that their genuine concerns would be taken seriously and fed into the Scottish Executive review; further recognises that this proposal is undermining confidence in the long-term viability of the air service, and considers that the Scottish Executive should ensure that the review is completed on or before the end of March.

17:02

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17:44

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): I welcome Duncan Hamilton's securing of this debate. I have a great affection for Loganair, which stems first from its being the airline that transported my wife and I away on our honeymoon in 1969. Members might be interested to know that the aircraft that carried us on what was our first flight is now to be seen in the Museum of Flight at East Fortune. Secondly, I have sat in the co-pilot seat of the Twin Otter that operates the service between Glasgow and Barra. I believe that another member in the chamber has also done that. The Twin Otter is my favourite type of aircraft because of its ruggedness and capability.

The situation that the islanders of Barra appear to face is not a matter for light reflection—it is deadly serious; indeed, it could be deathly serious. We are debating what is literally a lifeline service.

Some members might have noticed the Scottish Executive's pride in launching the Traveline Scotland website a month ago, which is a multimodal look at transport options in Scotland that can work out journeys across the country. I hope that the launch of the website did not presage a decision that has already been taken. Curiously enough, every possible combination that I entered had me travelling from Barra to Glasgow by getting on the ferry, travelling to Benbecula and coming into Glasgow that way, rather than having me go up to the other end of the island to fly directly from the airport at Tràigh Mhòr. It was interesting that the website showed a travel time of 16 hours 26 minutes.

I will give some facts and figures about the air service. The Barra to Glasgow service has a 70 per cent load factor. For such a service, that is an enormous year-round figure. Two thirds of passengers are visitors and 30 jobs are directly dependent on the existence of the airport. That represents a significant contribution to a community of some 1,200 people. Many more tourists are brought in. This year, the fly-in for private aircraft attracted 100 bookings for the 45 places. We understand that one company would leave the island if the air service were to be terminated.

Reference has been made to London Heathrow rules applying to Barra. That is true—they apply to an unacceptable extent.

It is worth noting that Loganair, which has existed for some 40 years, has an excellent safety record, in spite of the challenging air services that it operates throughout Scotland. A passenger has never been killed, although there have been three accidents in 40 years and crew members have not always been so lucky.

I put it to the minister that the Parliament is limited in its powers to deal with some of the issues that affect lifeline air services in Scotland. For example, aircraft statistics show that although single-engine turbine-powered aircraft of similar size to the Twin Otter have a better safety record than the twin-engine version, the Civil Aviation Authority will not allow them to be used. That is not the case in most of Europe. The minister might want to talk to people elsewhere about that.

We have an important duty to Barra. Let us not forget that Barra has made a significant contribution to the wider community. If one walks up the hill from Castlebay to the magnificent new war memorial, one will find 135 names on it from a population of 1,200. We owe it to Barra—it needs our support.

17:48