Highlands and Islands MSP Rhoda Grant questioned Transport Secretary Michael Matheson in the Scottish Parliament last week over the centralisation programme being proposed for air traffic control (ATC).
The Labour MSP said: ‘I asked if the proposal to centralise air traffic control was island-proofed, if an impact assessment had been carried out and if he would reverse this decision to base the HIAL Central Air Traffic Control System in Inverness. ‘I advised that if the Inverness ATC system could service Benbecula, then surely if the system was placed in Benbecula it could quite easily service Inverness. ‘I advised the Cabinet Secretary that centralising the ATC system in Inverness would not only be bad for the economy of the Highlands and islands, but it would be bad for staff and workers.
The funding being set aside for the centralisation of ATC could be better spent on the resilience of HIAL airports.’ Ms Grant concluded: ‘The Cabinet Secretary advised that HIAL have to meet stringent ATC regulations …however, he seems to have missed my point which was if they decide that having the one central ATC base within the HIAL network, then why does it have to be based in Inverness.’