Perth Airport has the potential to inject more than £100 million into the local economy over the next two decades, a new study has revealed.
Jointly commissioned by the Morris Leslie Group and Perth and Kinross Council’s investment arm Invest in Perth, it sets out a range of alternative futures for the airport.
Consultants Ekos prepared the 40-page report in anticipation of the forthcoming £1.84bn Tay Cities Deal and the projected £113m Cross Tay Link Road. The proposed 6km Perth bypass will connect the A9 to the A94 close to the airport.
Due for completion in 2023 the new road and new Tay crossing will allow traffic to bypass Perth’s Bridgend district by connecting north of the city, opening up new economic opportunities for the area which are explored in the report.
Joyce Leslie, a director of the family-owned Morris Leslie Group, said: “This new study considers all options for the future, including our preferred course of developing the site to meet new opportunities that arise.
“The Ekos report clarifies the increasingly high maintenance costs for which the airport will be liable, which means a new business model is needed if we are to avoid managed decline. That is not the future we envisage for Perth Airport.”
The airport’s owners have submitted comments to the local development plan asking that the airport’s restrictive “employment safeguarding” zoning be removed to allow for a mix of uses, including housing.
The company believes that incorporating 230 residential units over the next 20 years would allow more flexibility in finding a sustainable future for the airport.
Perth Airport covers a 45-acre site outside Scone and currently supports 160 jobs. Its flight operations are managed by ACS, and it is home to the Scottish Aero Club, Alba Airsports, and Scotland’s only charity air ambulance.
The adjacent buildings, many of which date back to the airport’s Second World War origins, are currently in residential, hospitality and industrial uses, including business incubators, generating an annual £5.9m to the local economy.
