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The Herald Scotland

Prestwick Airport China flights game changer amid sale talks

While we wait to see what transpires on this front, with First Minister John Swinney having in late March acknowledged the existence of an 'active bid', the team at Prestwick Airport has been continuing with its drive to win business and push profits higher. For all the griping from some people about the Scottish Government's ownership, Prestwick Airport was able to reveal last November that it had made a fifth consecutive annual profit. Going airside with Prestwick Airport's head of cargo operations, Nico Le Roux, in February, what was plain was the heavy investment being made to attract new flights. By that time, Prestwick Airport was already starting to reap the rewards of this investment and planning. The investment has included equipment to handle the wide-door Airbus A350 cargo aircraft. Mr Le Roux in February highlighted the airport's expectations of more than trebling cargo revenues to in excess of £10 million a year. He flagged e-commerce flights as a 'game changer', after winning major business from Hong Kong. The cargo sector veteran said: 'This new business is going to be a game changer for the airport. It will totally transform the airport basically.' The airport is the subject of an 'active bid' (Image: Colin Mearns) Cargo revenues at Prestwick Airport totalled £3.228m in the year to March 31, 2024. Mr Le Roux revealed his expectation that cargo revenues would be more than treble that level in the airport's financial year to March 31, 2026, on the back of recent business wins. And he was confident of securing further major wins in the wake of the Hong Kong Air Cargo deal. Mr Le Roux, in this February interview hours before the arrival of the first Hong Kong Air Cargo flight, highlighted Prestwick Airport's advantages for cargo operators. He listed many, and they certainly seem like important factors. Mr Le Roux flagged in this regard quick turnaround times, lower costs, and flexibility given the airport's 24/7 operation and absence of any curfews or extra charges for landing at night. He also highlighted the fact that the airport's operations were all handled in-house by its own employees, including ground-handling, fuelling, air-traffic control and fire services. This makes it easier to coordinate things swiftly, and react quickly to airlines' requirements, he observed. Mr Le Roux noted the bonded warehouses were on site, and also highlighted the proximity of the cargo facilities to the ramps. He also flagged the fact that the airport was not congested, and its ability to accommodate large freighters. Continuing to rhyme off the competitive advantages, Mr Le Roux highlighted Prestwick Airport's ability to have a cargo plane back in the air within two hours of landing. Read more He underlined the speed with which cargo planes were unloaded once they arrived, contrasting this with the situation at some other airports. Mr Le Roux declared: 'Within two hours, we basically guarantee aircraft arrive and take off again.' He observed this was very important to operators 'because that aircraft only makes money when it is in the air'. These are surely attractive features for existing and potential customers. Given all this, it was not particularly surprising to hear of Prestwick Airport's latest success on the cargo side of its operations on Friday night. However, that does not mean the arrival of China Southern Air Logistics is any less of a big deal. Prestwick Airport's chief executive, Ian Forgie, described the agreement as a 'game changer' as it was announced just ahead of the weekend. The airport declared the deal had delivered the 'first-ever direct scheduled freighter services between China and Scotland'. The agreement between the airport and China Southern Air Logistics has seen the carrier start scheduled cargo flights at four per week between Guangzhou and Prestwick, with plans for this to increase to a daily service. The first scheduled flight landed on Friday at Prestwick Airport. The airport also flagged the China Southern Air Logistics freighter services as 'a new direct export route to China from Scotland for high-value Scottish seafood and whisky'. Read more In February, while highlighting Prestwick Airport's success in winning the Hong Kong Air Cargo flights bringing packages ordered by UK and Irish consumers on the likes of the Temu, SHEIN, and TikTok platforms, Mr Le Roux was enthusiastic about the potential for Scottish seafood and whisky to be exported on return journeys. He revealed that logistics providers serving the seafood industry and the Scotch whisky sector had been in touch on the back of news of the launch of the cargo flights from Hong Kong to Prestwick Airport, expressing interest in transporting exports on the return legs. And he flagged expectations that the workforce at Prestwick Airport would rise from 354 to about 400 on the back of the planned expansion of the cargo operations. Prestwick Airport noted on Friday night that it had invested £2.3m in equipment in the last 12 months and was continuing to invest in ground-handling equipment and cool chain supply facilities as well as employing more staff, to maximise its capabilities in handling large freighters. It is most encouraging to see all the planning and investment at Prestwick Airport coming together. The airport makes a very important economic contribution to Ayrshire and more broadly to Scotland, one that is too often disregarded by the politically motivated carpers. These detractors also seem to forget that the airport supports an aerospace cluster in and around it which employs about 4,000 people, or maybe they just do not really care about this. Prestwick Airport's growing success is all the more reason for the Scottish Government to ensure that any sale is made with the future prosperity of this strategic asset, including on the employment front, in mind. There is no reason to believe that will not be the case. When I asked Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes in late April about the importance of the jobs at Prestwick Airport and the employment supported by the airport, in the context of any potential sale, she replied: 'We have obviously saved Prestwick Airport more than a decade ago, precisely because of its strategic importance to the Scottish economy… 'If and when Prestwick is sold, it will be for the new owner to develop a business case.' Ms Forbes, who highlighted Prestwick Airport's cargo operations, declared: 'We have set out very clear lines that we want Prestwick to continue to operate as an airport.' She added: 'My view is Scotland is small enough to be able to support multiple airports but for those airports to be complementary to one another.' We will have to wait and see what emerges from the bid talks around Prestwick Airport. In the meantime, we should celebrate the airport's successes.