Dundee West MP Jim McGovern has defended the city’s airport after an attack by one of its rivals.
In Wednesday’s Courier, Edinburgh Airport chief executive Gordon Dewar claimed taxpayers were not getting value from the £400,000 subsidy for the new scheduled flights to London Stansted operated by Flybe-Loganair.
Instead, he believed there should be better transport links to allow passengers from the Dundee area to fly from Edinburgh or Aberdeen.
Mr McGovern said: “While everyone supports better rail links between Dundee and Edinburgh, few support sacrificing Dundee Airport in order to do so.
“I am concerned that Mr Dewar’s comments are commercially motivated and are not being made in a spirit of public service.
“We all want to see Dundee Airport operate without the need for a subsidy. Transport Scotland made very clear last year that with the right plan this could happen.”
Mr McGovern said that Scotland’s size and widely distributed population benefited from having good regional airports.
“As Aberdeen and Inverness airports are important to their cities and regions, so Dundee Airport is important to the city and to Tayside.
“Scotland cannot focus its major transport infrastructure on the central belt alone we need excellent regional infrastructure as well.”