PSO is the only way to protect
Benbecula’s air service
Whether the loss of jobs would have resulted in a reduction in frequency is a matter for speculation now, but the message is clear: Benbecula – Glasgow, under the control of a commercial operator, will forever be exposed to market forces. Its continuation, therefore, is a matter for the commercial operator, and not a matter of the public interest. This can be seen most clearly by the loss of the Benbecula- Inverness route, a route that was very popular with business users and which, under the protection of a PSO, could have flourished, particularly given the expansion of Inverness airport as a hub to numerous destinations across the UK and Europe.
In recent weeks the eyes of many which had strayed from the ball have been opened widely again in the jolt received by the MoD and QinetiQ’s proposed job losses. Every agency around the taskforce table has publicly stated that the Uist economy is in desperate need of revamping. Indeed, Finance Minister, John Swinney MSP, in an interview with this paper in August said that the Scottish government: ‘will stick with the people of the Uists in whatever difficulties and challenges they may face.’ That we have a lifeline air service that carries no guarantee that it will continue if another economic crisis visits these islands is one such challenge which should be cause for alarm and must be faced.
This paper has been strenuously making the case for PSOs for many years; we hope that the events of the past few months will awaken others to the need for our fragile economy to receive fair investment from wherever it can be provided. The protection of the Benbecula-Glasgow air route by the imposition of a PSO must be at the heart of the reinvestment in the Uists.
