Letter in Today's The Herald

[Bearsden]

Will this stir our local airport management?

I met David Davidson circa 1975 when I worked in the upstairs bar at the airport during my university summer holidays

I NOTICED in your Family Notices section (The Herald, April 7), the sad loss of a previous general manager of Glasgow Airport, David Davidson.

That reminded me of the senior staff's enthusiasm for the continued expansion and development of the airport when I met them when working with Renfrew County then the Renfrew Division of Strathclyde.

As one deputy manager of "airside", who became a friend, said, "if an airport doesn't keep developing, it's dead".

I wonder what can be said of the shell of Scotland's link to the world.

All US carriers gone, Virgin Atlantic gone, but just from Glasgow – yet Glasgow was their first move from England. They are now in Edinburgh, serving a much smaller local population, yet all are extending their route network from there.

Look back at Glasgow's former daily and some seasonal routes – Chicago, Newark, JFK, and Orlando – and some earlier ones. All have or are returning to EDI and some new ones. Is that just the start?

Maybe it was greed. After all, Ryanair's boss pulled most routes because he felt landing fees were excessive. Did that encourage the departure? Other features, parking charges and the appalling herding of car drivers makes the whole experience a chore when once it was an excitement.

It surprises me that people have not yet looked into the demise of this once-significant international airport and asked its owners why.

John Taylor, Dunlop.


Maybe time for some Letters to the Editor from contributors to this forum?

[bill]

Will this stir our local airport management?

I met David Davidson circa 1975 when I worked in the upstairs bar at the airport during my university summer holidays

I NOTICED in your Family Notices section (The Herald, April 7), the sad loss of a previous general manager of Glasgow Airport, David Davidson.

That reminded me of the senior staff's enthusiasm for the continued expansion and development of the airport when I met them when working with Renfrew County then the Renfrew Division of Strathclyde.

As one deputy manager of "airside", who became a friend, said, "if an airport doesn't keep developing, it's dead".

I wonder what can be said of the shell of Scotland's link to the world.

All US carriers gone, Virgin Atlantic gone, but just from Glasgow – yet Glasgow was their first move from England. They are now in Edinburgh, serving a much smaller local population, yet all are extending their route network from there.

Look back at Glasgow's former daily and some seasonal routes – Chicago, Newark, JFK, and Orlando – and some earlier ones. All have or are returning to EDI and some new ones. Is that just the start?

Maybe it was greed. After all, Ryanair's boss pulled most routes because he felt landing fees were excessive. Did that encourage the departure? Other features, parking charges and the appalling herding of car drivers makes the whole experience a chore when once it was an excitement.

It surprises me that people have not yet looked into the demise of this once-significant international airport and asked its owners why.

John Taylor, Dunlop.


Maybe time for some Letters to the Editor from contributors to this forum?

They'd not be able to print my thoughts on the debacle that is AGS. Good idea though for the more considered posters in the forum.

[Iain]

After all, Ryanair's boss pulled most routes because he felt landing fees were excessive. Did that encourage the departure?

Is that true? I'm not sure FR ever said that, did they?

........ although what happened later with some routes reinstated suggested to me it may have been an issue.

[Bearsden]

After all, Ryanair's boss pulled most routes because he felt landing fees were excessive. Did that encourage the departure?

Is that true? I'm not sure FR ever said that, did they?

........ although what happened later with some routes reinstated suggested to me it may have been an issue.

From two news extracts back in late February 2018 . . . you may recall the move was announced at an Edinburgh news conference trumpeting the expansion there

Ryanair has announced that it is close its Glasgow base, cutting the number of routes operating from Glasgow from 23 to three, in a move that threatens 300 jobs.

The airline cited the pressures caused by the continued operation of Air Passenger Duty as one reason for pulling out of the ‘weaker Glasgow market’.

Chief commercial officer David O’Brien blamed the change on the cost of air passenger duty and said Glasgow “simply could not bear the burden”.

Mr O'Brien said APD also disadvantages Edinburgh but that the Scottish capital was a better inbound destination for the airline.

'The sense would be that there is more disposable in the Edinburgh area than there is in the Glasgow area,' he added.

[Ekally1]

It's cheaper to fly from man than from gla for airlines in terms of charges .. just tells you what u need to know

[Iain]

I've fired a letter off - we'll see if they publish it! I got one published a number of years ago, so maybe they will.

I'd also urge people to write to their MSPs and if you live in Glasgow council area, your councillors too. These people are quite clearly either unaware of what's happening or just accept AGS excuses. If constituents write to them and point out the real story they might start to ask questions.

They all have email addresses and are easy to contact that way.

[hads]

We used to have excellent debates on here with regards to the decline of GLA in terms of routes and pax numbers. Some comments were of a very high standard and demonstrated a level of knowledge I certainly dont have.
Would be good to restart that with regards to where we find ourselves at.
Covid has affected every nation on earth. However, Glasgow is still hamstrung by PIK and Edinburgh. There is no longer any debate that EDI is the premier destination in Central Scotland.
So I ask for an answer based on 2022 circumstances, how do you attract multiple destinations to Glasgow without sacking the management?
If it was straightforward, it would have been done.
Remember when we were talking about future numbers heading towards 12 million?
The population and customers are here.
What needs to be done?

[Bearsden]

We used to have excellent debates on here with regards to the decline of GLA in terms of routes and pax numbers. Some comments were of a very high standard and demonstrated a level of knowledge I certainly dont have.
Would be good to restart that with regards to where we find ourselves at.
Covid has affected every nation on earth. However, Glasgow is still hamstrung by PIK and Edinburgh. There is no longer any debate that EDI is the premier destination in Central Scotland.
So I ask for an answer based on 2022 circumstances, how do you attract multiple destinations to Glasgow without sacking the management?
If it was straightforward, it would have been done.
Remember when we were talking about future numbers heading towards 12 million?
The population and customers are here.
What needs to be done?

Maybe we should start by agreeing what the total Central Scotland market is split roughly domestic ex London area, London area, Ireland (total), Europe (bucket & spade), Europe (city breaks), Europe (hubs), Middle East, USA, Canada . . . I don't hold out much hopes for Far East but if it did happen then it would be relatively small

A quick analysis of the CAA statistics as at end December 2019 would be a good starting point then map in the known changes (eg Virgin Atlantic + US Carriers to EDI etc) and then map in any other significant but less obvious changes and any longer term COVID/Climate/Economic/Other changes . . . and see where you get to

AGS bank covenants are only waived until December 2022 and it has £716m of external debt maturing in June 2024 . . . now try to generate enough cash to pay the monthly interest let alone the capital!

[Clive]

We used to have excellent debates on here with regards to the decline of GLA in terms of routes and pax numbers. Some comments were of a very high standard and demonstrated a level of knowledge I certainly dont have.
Would be good to restart that with regards to where we find ourselves at.
Covid has affected every nation on earth. However, Glasgow is still hamstrung by PIK and Edinburgh. There is no longer any debate that EDI is the premier destination in Central Scotland.
So I ask for an answer based on 2022 circumstances, how do you attract multiple destinations to Glasgow without sacking the management?
If it was straightforward, it would have been done.
Remember when we were talking about future numbers heading towards 12 million?
The population and customers are here.
What needs to be done?

Maybe we should start by agreeing what the total Central Scotland market is split roughly domestic ex London area, London area, Ireland (total), Europe (bucket & spade), Europe (city breaks), Europe (hubs), Middle East, USA, Canada . . . I don't hold out much hopes for Far East but if it did happen then it would be relatively small

A quick analysis of the CAA statistics as at end December 2019 would be a good starting point then map in the known changes (eg Virgin Atlantic + US Carriers to EDI etc) and then map in any other significant but less obvious changes and any longer term COVID/Climate/Economic/Other changes . . . and see where you get to

AGS bank covenants are only waived until December 2022 and it has £716m of external debt maturing in June 2024 . . . now try to generate enough cash to pay the monthly interest let alone the capital!

Sounds like a sale will have to come.

[Clive]

We used to have excellent debates on here with regards to the decline of GLA in terms of routes and pax numbers. Some comments were of a very high standard and demonstrated a level of knowledge I certainly dont have.
Would be good to restart that with regards to where we find ourselves at.
Covid has affected every nation on earth. However, Glasgow is still hamstrung by PIK and Edinburgh. There is no longer any debate that EDI is the premier destination in Central Scotland.
So I ask for an answer based on 2022 circumstances, how do you attract multiple destinations to Glasgow without sacking the management?
If it was straightforward, it would have been done.
Remember when we were talking about future numbers heading towards 12 million?
The population and customers are here.
What needs to be done?

I know I’m a broken record but getting a Ryanair base is the only way to start getting back to 2019 targets. Anything else would be very welcome but small fry in terms of passenger volumes and number of destinations linked.