Long-term hope of Perth Airport passenger flights

ACS Aviation director says location and links make good proposition for airlines

Scheduled passenger flights could be on the cards for Perth Airport.

Bosses have revealed their long-term ambition is to open up slots for budget airlines such as Easyjet or Ryanair at the Scone site.

The aim was unveiled yesterday by ACS Aviation director Craig McDonald as the company reported it was on course for a 46% increase in turnover for 2018-19 from £1.3 millon to £1.9m.

He said the airport was not in a position to attract scheduled passenger flights at the moment.

However, he says its central location and good transport links were likely to make it an attractive proposition for airlines and passengers.

“It would be great if we could go down that road,” he said.

“At the moment the airport doesn’t have what we need as far as approach procedures are concerned, but we are now looking into that.”

He added: “Perth Airport does have good transport links.

“It’s three miles north-east of Perth city centre, so it’s well located in Scotland and central to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen so I reckon there is a market for that.”

Along the Tay, Dundee Airport has struggled to make a success of a series of scheduled passenger flights.

The site, now owned by Highlands & Islands Airports Ltd, has dropped routes to destinations such as Belfast City and Birmingham but continues to offer a link to London Stansted.

A much-vaunted air link to Amsterdam introduced by Flybe in 2016 was also short lived.

ACS Aviation already runs a Ministry of Defence-approved flight school at Perth, which trains pilots for the military.

Mr McDonald said the school was almost fully booked for the next nine months, and more than 200 students are expected to graduate in the next two to three years.

The expansion of the business has resulted in an increase in the ACS workforce from 13 to 35 in the past two years with the company recruiting for more flight instructors to join the team.

Mr McDonald said the developments meant Perth was already a player on the world stage.

He said: “Over the past year ACS has established a position as one of the leading flying schools in Europe, with our international graduates going on to secure employment with a host of airlines including Ryanair, Loganair, Thomas Cook, Stobart Air and Norwegian Airlines.”

The airport opened in 1936 as Scone Aerodrome, and a military training school was established shortly after.

It is home to the Scottish Aero Club, the country’s oldest flying club, and Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance.