Friday 27 September 2002

A new Scottish airport?

Scotland has nothing like the range of international air services enjoyed by Ireland. Most agree that this is because traffic in the heavily populated central belt is split between Glasgow and Edinburgh which are only 47 miles apart. Others suggest that British Airways and BAA (which owns both airports) prefer to shuttle Scottish passengers down to Heathrow and connect onwards from there. The idea of a big central airport between the two cities goes back a long way - before WWII, I believe. Suddenly, it's in the news in a big way.

Could this actually happen? The fact that there is to be a joint study by Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities is a harmonious change from the usual fierce rivalry between the two cities. The Scottish business community has rightly been complaining about the endless output of politically correct nonsense from the Scottish Parliament and has called for spending to be switched towards transport. The "great and the good" of the business world support the new airport. Yes, I think it could happen.