Glasgow Airport chief reveals major flights update
The transformation of the main terminal building at Glasgow Airport would deliver 'best-in-class operational and retail facilities for passengers'.
AviAlliance's plans for Glasgow Airport also include direct investment into airfield infrastructure and energy-efficiency initiatives. And AviAlliance revealed Aberdeen Airport, Europe's largest heliport, would see 'similar investment in its airfield infrastructure'.
I was able to catch a word with Kam Jandu, who was installed by AviAlliance as the new chief executive of AGS Airports immediately after completion of the AGS acquisition, as the huge investment by the new owner was unveiled at Glasgow Airport.
And it was interesting to hear his priorities for new routes and building passenger numbers generally, as well as his views on the rise of Edinburgh Airport.
Mr Jandu revealed the airport is in talks with Emirates about the airline increasing its daily service to Dubai to double-daily. He voiced hopes this could happen in the next two to three years, with Emirates operating a daily narrow-body aeroplane flight on the Glasgow to Dubai route in addition to the existing daily service on the Airbus A380, which is the world's largest passenger aircraft.
Mr Jandu declared Emirates' current daily Glasgow to Dubai service on the A380 was 'a huge deal' for the airport and a 'feather in our cap'.
He told me: 'We are talking about them expanding that to a double-daily.'
Asked if this was likely to happen, he quipped he was not a betting man but added: 'The double-daily – with the A380 and a narrow body [plane] – yes, I can see that happening in the next two to three years. And to have the second daily as a wide body – probably in five to six years.'
Mr Jandu named Copenhagen, Madrid, Berlin and Milan as four examples of priorities for new direct flights from Glasgow and highlighted his view there was a need for 'more connectivity' with three key European hubs with which Glasgow already has connections: Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt.
Mr Jandu meanwhile described the prospects of winning direct flights to North America as 'good' and highlighted talks with US airlines.
My column in The Herald on the interview with Glasgow Airport's new chief observed: 'The priorities laid out by Mr Jandu on building connectivity and increasing passenger numbers generally were eminently sensible.
'The proof of the pudding will be in the execution of the plans, but it was good to see he was in confident form and that much effort is being made on various key fronts.'
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes attended Glasgow Airport for the unveiling of the major investment plans by AviAlliance, a wholly owned subsidiary of PSP Investments which has stakes in Athens, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, and San Juan (Puerto Rico) airports.
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This provided the opportunity to ask a couple of questions about the future of Prestwick Airport.
Ms Forbes highlighted the Scottish Government's 'very clear lines' that it wants Prestwick Airport to continue to operate as an airport after any sale.
The Deputy First Minister said the Scottish Government continued to 'make progress' in terms of its aspirations to return Prestwick Airport, which it rescued in 2013 by buying the airport from Infratil of New Zealand for £1, to the private sector. However, Ms Forbes said she was unable to provide an update on an 'active bid' for Prestwick Airport, which was confirmed in late March by First Minister John Swinney, declaring the matter was 'so commercially sensitive'
Asked in late March by Scottish Parliament economy and fair work committee convener and South Scotland Labour MSP Colin Smyth if he was aware of an active bid for Prestwick Airport, Mr Swinney replied: 'I am. That's a matter that's currently under very active consideration.'
Ms Forbes, who highlighted Prestwick Airport's cargo operations, said: 'We have set out very clear lines that we want Prestwick to continue to operate as an airport.
'My view is Scotland is small enough to be able to support multiple airports but for those airports to be complementary to one another.'
Prestwick Airport forecast in February its direct workforce would rise from 354 to around 400 with its expansion plans for its cargo operations.
The airport puts the number of jobs that it supports in the aerospace cluster in and around it at about 4,000.
In a column for The Herald on Sunday, I observed: 'Prestwick Airport is certainly of great strategic importance.
'So it is reassuring to hear Ms Forbes emphasise the Scottish Government's 'very clear lines' about wanting it to continue as an airport after any sale.'
Donald Trump's trade tariff war has, not surprisingly, never been far from the spotlight in the past month and has provided much about which to write.
The US President's 'Liberation Day' announcement of the US's tariffs on imports from various countries around the world, on April 2, sent stock markets gyrating wildly.
It always looked like this was going to be the first rather than last chapter of the manoeuvrings, notably by Mr Trump but also by other world leaders, and so it has proved, with the greatest friction perhaps predictably coming in the US-China relationship.
The only thing that seems certain is that this soap opera has a long way to run.
Senior Scottish economist Jeremy Peat told The Herald on April 7: 'The dramatic response of global stock markets to Donald Trump's mad cap scheme to raise tariffs across the board was simply inevitable and wholly predictable.
'The immediate impact across all economies and all companies in the traded goods sectors was clearly going to be adverse.
'To me this implies a much weaker global economy for at least a year or two.'
As I observed on the Trump tariff moves in a column for The Herald on Sunday: 'While the plot twists might be fascinating to watch, we must hope we move from all this drama and financial market turbulence to a calmer situation as quickly as possible. However, to say that remains to be seen would certainly be an understatement.
'We must also hope that, when the dust settles, what we are left with in terms of the global trade position and the broader fall-out from all of this does not do too much damage to the real economy, in the UK, the US and globally.
'From a UK perspective, the last thing businesses and households need is even tougher times than those they have been enduring.'
This article was first published in Business HQ Monthly
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