Tourism minister Hyslop in ‘hypocrisy’ row over opposition to airport flight path change
BY PAUL HUTCHEON
AN SNP Cabinet Secretary who champions aviation tax cuts has been accused of “hypocrisy” after backing a delay to plans that could see more flights above her constituency. Fiona Hyslop, who has ministerial responsibility for tourism, wants Edinburgh Airport to shelve a consultation on reviewing flight paths due to concerns about the impact on the her Linlithgow seat.
Neil Findlay, a Labour MSP for Lothian, said: “Fiona Hyslop’s hypocrisy and double standards on this are there for all to see.”
A key plank of the Scottish Government’s economic strategy is to reduce and eventually abolish air passenger duty (APD), which is levied on the carriage of passengers flying from a UK airport.
Ministers believe the tax is a burden on airports, airlines and passengers, and a “barrier to air route development in Scotland”.
Critics believe the policy will harm the move to cut carbon emissions as it will lead to an increase in flights.
Hyslop, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, backed the policy at a forum that brings together ministers from across the UK and Ireland.
In a statement in 2014 reporting back on the British-Irish Council, she said: “We discussed the importance of good transport links with a strong case for changes to air passenger duty, the reduction of which will allow Scotland’s airports to become more competitive in attracting new direct routes.”
However, although Hyslop supports new routes at a national level, she has adopted a difference stance locally.
Edinburgh Airport, which also backs a cut to APD, earlier this year launched a consultation on the potential impact of altering flight paths.
The exercise – part of the company’s Airspace Change Programme – was aimed at developing future flight path options, which would be discussed at a second consultation stage.
The airspace, which goes over Hyslop’s constituency, was designed in the 1970s when the airport had around one million passengers, but the number last year was around 11.1 million. Against this backdrop, the airport press team stated that “we need to modernise for us to handle this vast increase in airspace”.
Hyslop, in her capacity as a local MSP, wants the second stage of the consultation mothballed while the Civil Aviation Authority considers its own piece of work.
“The timing of Edinburgh Airport’s Airspace Consultation is of great concern to me at a time when the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is seeking to review and strengthen its Community Consultation Guidance for Designing Airspace,” she has written.
“The results of this [CAA] Review could impact greatly on the current Airspace Consultation and therefore I am calling on Edinburgh Airport to wait until the CAA Review Report is published before proceeding.”
Hyslop has also been critical of an Edinburgh Airport flight path trial, TUTUR, which she says impacted on local residents in Broxburn, Uphall, Dechmont, Bridgend, Ecclesmachan and the Springfield area of Linlithgow.
In a response to the first stage of the consultation, she wrote: “Many of the towns and villages within my constituency have already been adversely affected by both the TUTUR trial and other apparent changes to current airspace use, with a number of constituents reporting changes in frequency, volume and flight movement particularly within the GOSAM and GRICE routes. I strongly believe that this route should not be considered as being part of any proposed airspace changes.”
Hyslop also noted that her constituents were “unconvinced” by the need for change and wrote: “I understand that Edinburgh Airport is not currently operating at capacity and whilst I recognise the need to consider future increased demand, it must be established if this can be met by more efficient timetabling and ground management in the first instance.”
However, Findlay said: “She tells her constituents she is opposed to new flight paths then sits around the Cabinet table and supports a policy of air route expansion and the scrapping of air passenger duty.
“Ms Hyslop has to decide whether she genuinely wants to stand up for her constituents in Linlithgow, Uphall and Winchburgh, or continue to take her salary as a Cabinet minister – she can’t do both.”
An SNP spokesperson said: “There is no contradiction in wishing to increase tourism and international connectivity whilst also raising valid concerns over an important constituency matter about how Edinburgh Airport chooses to organise airspace use in the future. Indeed, Ms Hyslop makes clear in her submission the importance of Edinburgh Airport.”