The chief executive of Edinburgh Airport thinks the new Dundee-London Stansted air service is a waste of public money.
Gordon Dewar believes passengers should instead fly from Edinburgh Airport, just an hour’s drive away.
He challenged Dundee council leader Ken Guild to justify the £200,000 subsidythe Stansted service will receive from the local authority in light of the currenteconomic environment.
Loganair’s flights to London Stansted will start on March 30 and replace theloss-making CityJet service to the UKcapital’s City Airport.
Dundee councillors think a direct Londonroute is vital for their city’s regeneration. Their £200,000 backing of the Loganair service is matched by a similar sum from the Scottish Government through Transport Scotland.
They argued that projects like the£1 billion waterfront redevelopmentfeaturing the V&A could be jeopardised if visitors and potential investors are not able to fly direct from Britain’s biggest city.
Dundee City Council’s allocation of funds to make the Stansted route viable prompted Mr Dewar to write to Mr Guild.
“Given the significant travel options and minimal travel time between Dundee and the airports in Edinburgh and Aberdeen,we were surprised with the announcement the description of the route as ‘vital’,” the chief executive stated.
He called on Mr Guild to justifythe subsidy “and why it is considered good value for money in light of the economic and competitive environments that we work in”.
Mr Dewar also questioned the use of development area rules and the secondsubsidy in the form of Dundee Airport being operated by Scottish Government-owned HIAL Ltd.
He asked Mr Guild to review the decision and meet him to explore better connections between Dundee and Edinburgh Airport to use public funds more effectively, including a direct coach service.
British Airways have added a tenth rotation to its daily Edinburgh to London City service, giving the airport 44 daily flights to the capital through BA,Virgin and easyjet.
Edinburgh Airport’s case is also enhanced by a road journey time of an hour from Dundee, he believed, and theintroduction of trams in the spring will reduce train journey times via Haymarket and Gogar interchanges.
Mr Dewar said the subsidy should be measured against the alleged benefit of avoiding an hour’s worth of travel by road or rail from Dundee, although this would be less for travellers from Perth.
Saving an hour’s drive from or to Dundee should be balanced against hours of waiting time in London for the twice daily Stansted service, he contended.
Rail transfers were another factor, with Stansted to Liverpool Street taking 47minutes, Heathrow to Paddington and London City to Bank each taking 20minutes and Gatwick to Victoria 30 minutes.
A spokesman for Transport Scotland said: “We are confident there is a place for services from Dundee in Scotland’s increasingly competitive aviation sector and want to secure a future for the airport.”