If Hollywood stars and the world’s top golfers want to fly to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship or Open Championship at St Andrews in future, there is no guarantee they will be able to make use of the airfield at Leuchars once the RAF depart and the army moves in from 2015.
This has been made clear by the Ministry of Defence, which confirmed civil aircraft are again planning to land at RAF Leuchars for the Dunhill next week but the MoD told The Courier it would be “inappropriate” to speculate on future use of the airfield by civilian aircraft as usage of the airfield once the RAF departs remains under review.
For many years, RAF Leuchars has been well used by private jets belonging to the rich and famous when they attend the Dunhill. The base has also been well used by private jets during the Open.
There has been much speculation over the years about the possibility of commercial airlines using Leuchars.
In the early 2000s, the MoD even carried out a feasibility study into the potential exploitation of spare capacity at the base, which at that time might have included greater use of the base by civilian and commercial aircraft.
The possibility of low-cost airlines such as Ryanair or easyJet using RAF Leuchars was dumped at that time because none of the companies that put forward proposals were able to demonstrate significant benefits, with the “risk’’ also deemed too high for the RAF.
With Leuchars’ Typhoon squadrons due to move to RAF Lossiemouth between June and September next year, and army to fully take over the base by April 2015, the MoD has indicated that Leuchars will retain a working airfield. It is expected that a skeleton crew of RAF personnel will be retained to keep it operational.
Asked if commercial flying activity will continue to feature at Leuchars once the RAF has gone, an MoD spokesman told The Courier: “As in previous years, civil aircraft are planning to land at RAF Leuchars for the 2013 Dunhill Links Championship.
“It is MOD policy to encourage the civil use of defence facilities wherever possible, provided this is consistent with defence requirements, the interests of existing tenants and licensees and does not unreasonably affect local amenities.
“Following the cessation of Typhoon operations in autumn 2014, the airfield at RAF Leuchars will remain in use to support the East of Scotland Universities Air Squadron, Number 12 Air Experience Flight and for use as a diversionary airfield.
“The utilisation and maintenance of any airfield services is subject to further work within Air Command and the defence infrastructure organisation, so it would not be appropriate to speculate now as to how that might affect civil aircraft.”