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The BAA, owner of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen airports, has called for Westminster to surrender aviation tax control to Holyrood, the seat of the Scottish Government. The move, which has also drawn the support of Infratil, the company behind Prestwick Airport, would allow MPs to control the value of Air Passenger Duty (APD) in Scotland.

APD costs Scotland £77m in lost tourism every year, according to the BAA. The much-maligned tax has been criticised by Sir Richard Branson, Ryanair chief, Michael O’Leary, travel organisation ABTA, and “more than half” of all long-haul travellers, who say that APD will eventually make regular flights unfeasible. Adding to APD's list of detractors are Thomson, Jet2, and UK flag-carrying airline, British Airways.

Jet2 boss, Philip Meeson, claims that the government is "hell bent" on ruining the summer holiday season for British travellers.

Critics believe that the Coalition doesn’t fully appreciate the impact of APD on the tourism industry or that the lucrative levy is blinding cash-strapped MPs to the consequences of heavy taxation. The latter point is perhaps best demonstrated via an article in the Independent, which notes that MPs have recently consulted on a further rise to APD. Scotland’s annual loses could potentially hit (and surpass) the £110m mark, if the motion is passed.

Edinburgh Airport chief, Kevin Brown, said that Scotland is not looking for an ‘easy ride’, regarding aviation taxes. “We are not saying we should not be taxed, only that any taxation is fair and proportionate." Mr. Brown’s counterpart at Glasgow Airport, Amanda McMillan, was concerned that APD could force airlines to spurn Scottish airports, in favour of hubs that are not subjected to the “continued rise in APD”, such as those in Holland and Belgium.

Scotland’s location in Europe means that air travel is particularly important in forging links with major economic centres on the continent, such as Brussels and Frankfurt. However, the country is presently losing millions of passengers to APD, alleged to be one of the highest transport taxes on the planet.

APD generates £2bn a year for Westminster. The figure could increase by 50% (to £3bn) over the next few years, if Virgin Atlantic chief, Sir Richard Branson is to be believed.

Jet2’s seemingly endless potential for expansion has resulted in the creation of eight new routes at Glasgow Airport since April 2011. Now, just two months after the Yorkshire carrier launched its first flight from the Abbotsinch hub, Jet2 has announced that it will add a further five new destinations from Glasgow, beginning in March 2012.

The airline, which has also expanded its services at East Midlands and Manchester airports, celebrated its latest investment by creating a new – and rather odd – dish, the haggis paella. Whether the culinary ‘experiment’ whetted the appetite of local travellers is debatable, but Jet2 claims to have already sold 150,000 seats on its summer 2012 flights.

Flights to Barcelona, Malaga, and Murcia in mainland Spain, and Ibiza in the Balearic Islands will begin next year, with one-way travel costing in the region of £29.99. Jet2 will fly to Barcelona three times a week, while Murcia and Malaga will be served two and four times a week, respectively. A weekly flight to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands will take off at the same time, albeit at the slightly higher price of £49.99.

Jet2’s fifth new route from Glasgow, Ibiza, will begin in May 2012, operating on a twice-weekly basis for the duration of the summer season. Tickets begin at £39.99.

“There’s no doubt this is an exciting time for us at Glasgow Airport”, said Jet2 chief, Ian Doubtfire. “We’re really pleased with bookings so far. The feedback from passengers (has been) very positive.”

Mr. Doubtfire indicated that capacity would improve by 20% on existing routes from Glasgow to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Faro in Portugal, Alicante in Spain, and to Majorca in the Mediterranean Sea. The extra seats, in tandem with Jet2’s new routes, have been welcomed in Glasgow. Local Councillor, Gordon Matheson, referred to the airline’s expansion as “great news”, while Francois Bourienne, chief at Glasgow Airport, said that Jet2 “should be congratulated”.

Jet2 currently offers 13 routes from Glasgow, including a trans-Atlantic flight to New York.

Budget airline, easyJet, is to follow KLM’s example by adding a new route from the UK to the capital of Holland, Amsterdam. However, while the Dutch carrier focused on bringing Durham Tees Valley and Aberdeen airports closer to the continent, easyJet will expand its schedules in Scotland’s second city, Glasgow, by an extra seven flights per week.

Hugh Aitken, easyJet’s chief in Scotland, said that the addition comes at a time when demand for flights to Holland is soaring. “Amsterdam will be our 15th route from Glasgow. (The flight) further demonstrates our commitment to the city and the region."

An earlier route from Glasgow to Amsterdam was cancelled six years ago, but easyJet does not expect its latest investment to share the same fate as its predecessor. The tangerine airline says that more than 85,000 passengers will use the route during its first year, a claim supported by the news that the three main Scottish airports, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen, recently experienced a 5.8% increase in passenger numbers.

Dutch flag-carrier, KLM, already offers five flights between Glasgow and its native Amsterdam. However, according to Mr. Aitken, easyJet has no plans to compete directly with the blue and white airline. KLM’s routes from the UK to Holland feed passengers into Schiphol’s network of long-haul flights, whereas easyJet is hoping that its customers will opt to holiday within Amsterdam itself. The difference is subtle, but easyJet’s plans for its new route are merely hiding the fact that the Luton-based carrier does not offer any long-haul flights from Schiphol, or indeed, from any airport, and will in fact be taking passengers to KLM’s doorstep.

It should be noted that a connection between Scotland and Amsterdam is just as important for Dutch people as it is for Scots. Tourism website, Visit Scotland, claims that Loch Lomond, the Highlands, and the Trossachs National Park are very popular with travellers from Holland, who are “excellent repeat visitors”, to quote Aoife Desmond, manager of the website. Gordon Matheson, Glasgow City Council chief, was equally keen to promote the Scottish city as a destination for European visitors.

EasyJet’s new route begins on October 31 2011.

Package holiday company, Jet2Holidays, is to introduce a route from Glasgow Airport to New York City. The expansion, which was celebrated at the hub with “American style” cheerleaders, will become Jet2’s ninth direct flight from Glasgow, and its first to the US from the Abbotsinch airport, when the route takes off on November 17 2011.

Jet2’s time at Glasgow has been brief, but profitable, according to Amanda McMillan, director at the airport. The airline has gone from “strength to strength” in Scotland, despite arriving just over a month ago, on March 31 2011.

Other than increasing competition, Jet2’s function at the hub is debatable. The carrier offers routes to a number of ‘sun and sea’ resorts, such as Alicante and Palma de Mallorca. However, with the exception of a service to Nice in France, Jet2’s new routes are duplicates of already existing flights.

Flights from Glasgow to Palma, for example, are offered by no less than six different airlines, including Thomson, Thomas Cook, and easyJet. Jet2 is ostensibly relying on its “friendly low fares” to elevate it above the local competition.

Jet2Holidays is providing return flights to Newark Liberty Airport from £599 per person. The package includes three-star accommodation, and a variety of other benefits, including in-flight meals and free airport car parking. The route is being sold on the strength of New York’s popularity as a shopping destination, especially during the festive period. Glasgow Airport’s website claims that the Big Apple has 3,492 fashion stores and 4,000 street vendors.

Philip Meeson, chief at Jet2, was full of confidence in his airline’s new route, “I urge people to book now. Breaks are set to go faster than you can shout ‘Taxi’!” Mr. Meeson said that the Yorkshire carrier’s new service “highlights our continued investment in Glasgow”.

Glasgow Airport is enjoying its third consecutive month of growth, due in part to the arrival of Yorkshire-based airline, Jet2. The carrier has introduced routes from the Scottish hub to seven destinations, with an eighth due to begin operating later this year.

According to the Evening Times, a Scottish newspaper, the number of people choosing to fly from Glasgow Airport increased by 11,298 in March 2011, to 485,198 travellers. Demand for international flights climbed by 3.2%, while the popularity of domestic routes was up 2% over the figures for the same month last year. The news paints a defiant picture of Glasgow, which recently had to contend with the loss of a BMI route to Heathrow Airport in London. The cancellation, said airport boss, Amanda McMillan, was “offset” by the arrival of Jet2.

The budget carrier has begun flying from Glasgow to Alicante in Spain, Majorca in the Balearic Islands, Faro in Portugal, and Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Routes to Nice in France, Dalaman in Turkey, and Paphos in Cyprus have also been added by the silver and red airline, while a winter service to Geneva in Switzerland will start on December 23 2011.

Jet2’s director, Ian Doubtfire, referred to recent developments in Glasgow as “very exciting”. Mr. Doubtfire noted that the airline had spent two years planning for the expansion, and six months hiring 150 new employees, including pilots. The Yorkshire carrier has also begun preparations for a second expansion at Glasgow during 2012, which could create even more employment opportunities in the Scottish city.

Glasgow City Councillor, Gordon Matheson, was keen to attract foreign business to the region, saying “there are passengers from Nice who are flying to Glasgow for either a weekend break or business purposes. This is great for the economy and a great boost for the airport".

Jet2 expects 300,000 people to use the new Glasgow routes during summer 2011.

BMI Regional is the most punctual scheduled airline in the UK, according to independent website, flightontime.info. The results mark the sixth time that Regional has retained the accolade, shrugging off competition from rival airlines, such as Ryanair, Air France, and British Airways (BA).

According to the airline’s website, BMI Regional offers 13 destinations from airports in Scotland and the North of England. The carrier wears the blue and white livery of British Midland International, and provides predominantly domestic services. BMI Regional is, therefore, very similar to BA CityFlyer, an airline that operates out of London City Airport. Both CityFlyer and BMI Regional favour Embraer jets, as opposed to the larger Boeing and Airbus planes operated by their parent companies.

During 2010, the average delay on a BMI Regional flight was 7.1 minutes, compared to 13.7 minutes with Ryanair, and an embarrassing 35.5 minutes with Leeds-based airline, Jet2. The most punctual carriers after Regional were Eastern Airways (average delay of 8.3 minutes), CityJet (8.8mins), VLM (8.9mins), and KLM (9.3mins). Wallowing in the doldrums, but above Jet2 in 35th place, were Monarch Scheduled (30.4mins), Virgin Atlantic (26.2mins), and Spanish carrier, Iberia (25.2mins). Overall, the larger airlines operating out of UK airports performed poorly against companies that could hardly be considered rivals, in terms of fleet size and passenger numbers.

BMI Regional’s penchant for promptness is not confined to its own aeroplanes, however. The carrier’s parent, British Midland International, was the most punctual airline at Heathrow Airport in 2010, according to Reuters, with almost 80% of flights experiencing little or no delays. Surprisingly, the results for both surveys included statistics from April and December 2010, months that were affected by the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull and heavy snowfall, respectively.

The British Airports Authority’s (BAA) monopoly over UK aviation looks set to be broken, after the Supreme Court ruled that London Stansted and one of either Edinburgh or Glasgow airports must be sold to increase competition in the industry.

Nearly three years ago, the Competition Commission demanded that the BAA relinquish its hold on three of its British airports, citing a need to “kick-start” airport-to-airport rivalry. Christopher Clarke, head of the commission’s investigation into the BAA, said that there was “no competition at all” between UK hubs in March 2009. Nine months later, in December, the BAA-owned Gatwick Airport was sold to investment firm, Global Infrastructure Partners.

The BAA was suspicious. The aviation giant complained of “apparent bias” in the sale of the Crawley hub, given that a member of the Competition Commission, Peter Moizer, was involved with one of the BAA’s biggest rivals, Manchester Airports Group (MAG). The Competition Appeals Tribunal upheld the appeal, and any further sales were suspended.

In October 2010, the saga came full circle, when the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Competition Commission, and overturned the BAA’s appeal of the previous year. The BAA remains adamant, however, that the circumstances that led to the order to sell in 2009 are no longer valid, citing the government’s refusal to consider any runway expansions in the southeast as a new variable in the case.

The Supreme Court refused to hear the BAA's latest plea in February 2011, consigning Stansted and one of the Scottish airports to the saleroom. The remaining BAA-owned hubs, Aberdeen, Southampton, and Heathrow, remain unaffected, but the news of the Supreme Court ruling will come as a blow to the company. The number of airports under direct BAA control could be reduced to four within the next few years, down from seven in 2009.

In the UK, the BAA’s biggest competitors are Peel Airports, with three hubs, including Liverpool John Lennon, and MAG, with four. MAG currently owns Manchester, East Midlands, Humberside, and Bournemouth airports.

British Midland International (BMI) has announced that its five-time daily route between Glasgow Airport and Heathrow, London, could face the chop, prompting fears about the future of Scottish industry. The airline, which is based at Castle Donnington, says that rising passenger fees at Heathrow, equating to a £7 increase over last year, are partly responsible for the bleak forecast.

Whilst BMI has not said when the route will be axed, an educated guess would be late March or early April, when Heathrow introduces the £7 hike in the domestic passenger charge. The price increase, announced in December, was previously described by the airline as “unreasonably discriminating” against travellers, and an “outrage.” BMI intimated that Heathrow was placing high charges on domestic flights to pander to long-haul carriers, such as Emirates and British Airways (BA).

However, even if passenger fees were kept at their current rate of £13.43 after April 1, BMI would still lose upwards of £1m a month on its Glasgow-Heathrow flights. The airline referred to the route as “weaker,” but withheld any information that might explain why the connection was failing. Competition from BA is a likely culprit, as the two airlines operate the same route from Glasgow.

Stuart Patrick, of the Glasgow Chambers of Commerce, said that Heathrow’s links to international airports are the route’s main attraction, and the removal of the connection would leave Scots with “no choice” regarding their choice of airline. Stuart Patrick also noted that Heathrow’s capacity problems meant that there would be no free aircraft slots available for another airline to pick up the route. BA would be effectively invulnerable from competition at Glasgow.

Despite the doom and gloom, BMI says that “no decision” regarding underperforming routes has yet been made. Scottish transport minister, Keith Brown, is hoping to capitalise on BMI’s hesitation by asking Westminster to help support the airline, or take steps to ensure that Glasgow does not become isolated from the UK’s busiest airport.

The British Airports Authority (BAA) could find itself accused of favouritism this year, after the aviation giant announced a £11.2m redevelopment fund for Glasgow Airport, less than a month after the Abbotsinch hub struck a deal with US-based firm, Delaware North, to refurbish the airport’s food court.

Glasgow is the BAA’s fourth largest airport in the UK, after Heathrow, Stansted, and fellow Scot, Edinburgh, with annual traffic of 6-7m people. The hub’s main terminal, opened in 1966, retains a number of original features that have become a hindrance in recent years, rather than a quaint novelty. The BAA, says a press release on Glasgow’s website, is proposing a “major” overhaul of the Scottish airport, lasting up to five years, in a bid to modernise the forty-year-old facility.

The heating system, an essential part of huge lofty structures, is to be stripped out, and replaced with an energy-efficient “boiler plant,” costing £2.5m. Old lights and cracked flooring will be thrown out the terminal doors, seating will be replaced, and new retail outlets will be lured to the airport. A total of £4.5m will be spent on keeping travellers warm and illuminated while they wait for their flight.

On the airport’s ‘airside,’ preparations are being made to modify the taxiway. Glasgow has not mentioned what form the £2m upgrade will take, but it is likely that existing surfaces will be re-laid, possibly to accommodate heavier, ‘greener,’ aircraft. Runway approach lights, which assist inbound pilots, will be refurbished, whilst a number of aircraft stands will also receive makeovers, making loading and unloading faster.

Amanda McMillan, chief at Glasgow Airport, noted that the BAA’s multi-million pound investment would be spent on ensuring the “smooth, efficient operation” of airport business, and helping travellers to “relax” before their flight. However, it is likely that the BAA’s generosity is designed to bring Glasgow back ‘up to scratch.’ The airport lost around a million passengers during 2009/10, due to snow, volcanic ash, and the recession.

“We have continued to invest for the long term,” explained Amanda McMillan. “I am confident that we will see a return to growth in 2011.” Glasgow’s mission has been bolstered by the announcement of a “massive” expansion by Leeds-based carrier, Jet2, and extra flights from Icelandair and Thomas Cook, among others.

Travellers passing through Glasgow Airport will soon be able to enjoy the delights of a homemade burger, after the Scottish hub announced a £1.5m redevelopment of its food court, due to be completed later this year.

The redesign, which will add a total of four new cafés and restaurants, is being handled by the UK arm of Delaware North Companies, an American hospitality firm.

Delaware North, despite being relatively unknown outside the catering world, is a supplier of food services to a number of large sports stadiums, including Pride Park in Derby, the Emirates Stadium in London and the cornerstone of English football, Wembley Stadium. Perhaps of greater relevance is that Delaware North also operates food outlets at Heathrow, Gatwick and Edinburgh airports, three of the largest hubs in the UK.

When complete, Glasgow’s newest development will be located on two levels, the ground and first floor, and will accommodate 406 diners. A sports bar and grill showing live events, a ‘city-centre style’ café bar, a sandwich deli and a buffet-style restaurant will be introduced as part of the expansion. The four outlets will be located on the airport’s ‘landside’ before security checkpoints.

Glasgow’s commercial director, Francois Bourienne, said that the Scottish hub is “really excited” about working with Delaware North, and drew attention to the airport’s ongoing popularity with food and retail companies by stating that “despite a recession, we have added household names such as Tesco and Dorothy Perkins to our retail portfolio".

Delaware North’s UK chief, Simon Dobson, said that his company was “delighted” with recent developments.

Dishes will be available for £3.50 from the Fresh Food Central and Central Sports Bar and Grill outlets, challenging the long-held idea that airport stores and restaurants are more expensive than their equivalents on the high street.

In 2011, Canadian Affair, the “pre-eminent choice for tours to Canada,” to quote the company’s website, will increase capacity on routes from Glasgow Airport to three North American destinations. The expansion will add around 10,000 extra seats on flights to Vancouver, Calgary, and the largest city in Canada, Toronto.

While it might sound like a bargain bin paperback, Canadian Affair is a specialist holiday company based in London and Glasgow. The firm has been flying from Scotland’s second city since its inception in 1995, and currently provides more than 60 flights a week from seven UK airports.

Bosses have cited exploding passenger numbers as the impetus for the planned expansion at Glasgow. The operator claims that more UK travellers chose to fly with Canadian Affair in 2010 than in any previous year. “We can’t give out the specific numbers, but this has been a record year for us,” a spokesperson told the Evening Times newspaper

Larger planes will be brought onto Glasgow-Canada routes to facilitate the capacity increase, including the Airbus A330, which can carry almost 300 passengers, and the now-discontinued A110 aircraft, seating 200 people. The planes will be borrowed from Canadian Affair’s parent company, Transat A.T.

The Toronto service will operate five times a week from summer 2011, priced at £278 for a return journey. Calgary and Vancouver will be served with one weekly flight. Tickets for the latter two cities are slightly more expensive than on the Toronto route, coming in at £298 per person.

In addition to flights, Canadian Affair is offering travellers a chance to explore the North American countryside, providing scenic train journeys, food and wine events in British Columbia, and a rather novel activity for British holidaymakers, bear watching.

Glasgow Airport might not be one of the largest hubs in the world, and it's arguable whether its renown extends beyond Britain’s shores, but the Abbotsinch hub has become the first airport in the world to install a new security breakthrough, colloquially known as an electronic ‘sniffer dog.’

The device, mounted in a tall arch, uses lasers to detect IEDs (improvised explosive devices - essentially homemade bombs) that are hidden about a person’s body or stashed in their clothing. The machine works by ‘sniffing’ air particles, and was previously used by inventor, Cascade Technologies, to analyse industrial gases.

Cascade worked closely with French security firm, Morpho, to produce the new scanner, which is immune to external factors, such as magnetism or radio waves, which could produce a ‘false reading.’

The system can also be configured to scan for narcotics, toxic industrial chemicals, and various other agents. However, it cannot yet be used to scour luggage for contraband, which means that the two printers sent from Yemen to Chicago as part of the recent ‘ink-bomb plot,’ would still have made it through security.

Jean-Paul Jainsky, boss at Morpho, said, “We are very pleased with our partnership (with Cascade), and to have reached a trial stage with a major airport operator such as the British Airports Authority.” Cascade boss, Iain Howieson, was “excited” about testing the product “in the field.”

The Daily Mail newspaper claims that a large majority of passengers have agreed to walk through the archway over the past month, emphasising the machine’s popularity with Scottish travellers. The scanner is likely to garner more support than the full-body (or ‘naked’) scanner, as the new device does not take any compromising photographs.

Morpho and Cascade are speculating as to whether two different kinds of scanner can be ‘fused together,’ creating machines that can detect weapons and bombs (for example), and helping to reduce queues at security checkpoints.

Jet2, the “friendly low fares” airline, has announced plans to connect the Scottish city of Glasgow to the largest Canary Island, Tenerife. The expansion will take place on April 1. Flights will operate twice a week until November 4 2011.

Alongside Dalaman in Turkey, and Alicante, Spain, Tenerife is one of the most popular ‘sun and sea’ destinations available from UK airports, accessible from London Gatwick, Manchester, and Bristol, among others.

Tenerife is famed for its mountainous central regions, as well as its violent geological history, which includes the tantrums of the third largest active volcano in the world, Mount Teide. The island’s pleasant climate, controlled by the trade winds, provides an ideal holiday destination for sun seekers and explorers alike.

Commenting on Jet2’s latest expansion, Pia Louw, Director at the Tenerife Tourism Corporation said, “We are delighted that Jet2 has recognised Tenerife’s ever-growing popularity in the UK market, and we look forward to welcoming even more tourists to our shores.”

The airline’s latest offering will operate on Tuesdays and Fridays, costing in the region of £57, one-way. The flight complements the Abbotsinch hub’s existing routes to the Canary Islands of Fuerteventura and La Palma, operated by Thomas Cook.

Jet2holidays, the carrier’s package holiday arm, is also offering new options for travellers. Staying at Playa de Las Américas, a popular holiday resort in the south of the island, travellers can expect to pay around £200 for a self-catered apartment with Jet2holidays, and £263 for half-board.

The company does not have any all-inclusive holidays available at Playa de Las Américas, but there are plenty of B&Bs scattered around the resort.

Jet2, an airline more closely associated with English airports, is to expand its business in Scotland by opening a new base at Glasgow Airport in March 2011. The carrier believes that the expansion will bring “significant investment” to Renfrewshire and create around 150 new jobs.

The Yorkshire airline opted for a new Glasgow base over further expansion of its facilities in Manchester or Leeds, according to the BBC News website.

Nine new routes will be added as part of the deal, including several destinations in Europe and North Africa.

Palma in Majorca, Alicante in Spain, Nice in France and Faro in Portugal are already available for booking, as are flights to Dalaman in Turkey, Monastir in Tunisia and Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt.

Flights to the Canary Island of Tenerife and the Cypriot city of Paphos will also make their debut at Glasgow in 2011.

Stewart Stevenson, the Scottish transport minister, noted that some of the new positions available at Jet2’s base would be supported by an RSA (Regional Selective Assistance) grant, to the tune of £150,000.

The minister praised Scottish Development International, a firm that supports businesses setting up in Scotland, for “persuading” Jet2 to move north of the border. “The airline’s new base is a tremendous boost for Glasgow Airport,” Stevenson said.

Jet2 is the second firm to invest at Glasgow Airport in just over a month, after supermarket giant Tesco announced plans to build an Express-branded store inside the airport later this year.

The shop, which will become the first Tesco store of its kind, is expected to create 20 new jobs.

Flight Options, Ltd., the parent company of Kiss Flights, has become the 13th holiday company to fold in 2010, alongside UK-based travel firm, Goldtrail, and the lesser known, Malachite Travel.

Estimates suggest that as many as 70,000 Brits could have had their holiday plans scuppered by the collapse of Kiss.

The airline, whose official website now displays a permanent error, has been operating flights from UK airports for a number of years. The firm was bought by Flight Options in early 2009 from the former directors of the ill-fated, XL Leisure Group. XL folded in 2008, much to the chagrin of 85,000 customers.

Kiss added 12 flights to Glasgow’s books as recently as January, plugging the deficit in flights left by the collapse of Flyglobespan, and becoming a local hero in the process.

Yet Kiss’ business model was fundamentally flawed, according to Co-op Travel boss, Mike Greenacre – “the flights were just too cheap. Co-op took a commercial decision not to sell Kiss flights.” Greenacre, who was speaking to BBC Radio 4, told listeners that the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) decision to allow Kiss to fly in the first place was ‘concerning.’

Whilst the reason for Kiss’ collapse has not been made explicit, the recent volcanic ash crisis, coupled with the recession and a more frugal approach to holidaying by Brits, has produced a marked slump in profits for UK airlines and travel firms.

The harsh winter of 2009-10 has also been blamed, with Highland Airways succumbing to its debts in April this year, after finding its clientele (mostly Highlanders and Islanders) unable to travel through freezing fog and snow.

Holidaymakers who booked through Kiss and departed or returned before last Wednesday evening were protected by the CAA, but the authority warned that pre-booked holidays – around 60,000 – would be refunded, rather than shunted to other airlines. Tickets for Kiss flights will no longer be accepted at European airports.

With the airline’s passengers safe, Glasgow Airport now has to contend with the loss of popular ‘sun and sea’ routes for the second time since December, when Flyglobespan ceased trading and entered administration.

The lost flights could have secured the airport’s finances throughout the winter season, a historically difficult time for the Scottish hub.

Shopping giant, Tesco, plans to open a new store in Glasgow Airport. The shop, which will carry the Express branding, and stock a range of essential products, will become the first Tesco store of its kind when it opens later this year.

Tesco is one of the largest supermarket chains in the UK, earning around £3bn in the last financial year. The firm’s stores have become a high-street staple in recent years, replacing smaller establishments and ‘corner shops,’ and generating a fair amount of criticism from concerned residents.

In 2007, for example, a Tesco store in Cambridge was opposed by local people, who felt that the supermarket would suck the life out of a ‘lively cosmopolitan area,’ and force the closure of a number of unique outlets. The shop was eventually built in 2009, albeit at a fraction of its original size.

Glasgow’s new Tesco Express will be located in the domestic arrivals area, and fill a ‘prominent space’ in the airport, according to officials. The supermarket hopes to attract returning holidaymakers, especially those who arrive during the early hours, when most high street stores are closed.

“We are delighted to be making this investment at Glasgow Airport,” Tesco chief, Tony McElroy, explained. “Our new shop is a great example of our commitment to keeping our business fresh and trying new ideas." Tony claims that up to 20 jobs could be created by the Glasgow Tesco.

An airport store might be a novel investment in Tony McElroy's eyes, but rival supermarket, Spar, already has a small shop at East Midlands Airport.

What sets Tesco apart, however, is the price of goods – the airport Express will offer groceries at the same price as its high street kin, without any of the premiums usually heaped on items sold at railway stations and airports.

Glasgow will be hoping that the extra business generated by Tesco will shore up the airport's finances over the difficult winter holiday season. Last year, the Scottish hub was forced to close its second terminal, as debt problems spiralled out of control.

The self-proclaimed, ‘number one domestic airline,’ Flybe, has introduced a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, from Glasgow Airport. The route will operate between four and twelve times a week, according to a press release by the carrier, and connect to the German city via Southampton Airport.

Beginning 1 August, Flybe’s new route is designed to generate business links between Scotland and ‘key destinations,’ such as Frankfurt. The airline claims that its latest addition is in response to demand from Scottish executives, who may not wish to travel the 40 miles to Edinburgh for a direct flight to Germany.

Flybe also hopes that its Glasgow-Frankfurt route will demonstrate that the budget carrier has its collective fingers in two lucrative pies – the leisure and tourism industry, and the heady world of business travel. The airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, Mike Rutter, explained that the flight was both ‘convenient’ and ‘cost-effective’ for travellers.

Glasgow is Flybe’s third UK base to provide a flight to Frankfurt, after Birmingham and Manchester airports. Tickets begin at £53.99, taxes included, for a one-way trip, departing at 13.35 on each day of operation. Unfortunately, the short stop in Southampton adds a good two hours to the total travel time.

Passengers can expect to spend an average of 4hrs 25mins in the sky, double that of flights between the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, and Frankfurt. The return flight leaves Germany at 19.00, arriving in Glasgow some 3 hours later, at 22.00.

Frankfurt is one of the largest cities in Germany, and ranks alongside Paris and London as an economic powerhouse. The city is sometimes referred to as ‘Bankfurt’ in honour of its many financial institutions, including the headquarters of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, and the Frankfurt stock exchange.

Last week, Glasgow Airport enjoyed its busiest day of the year, as Scottish schools let their students out for the summer holidays. The hub helped around 33,000 people to their destinations on Friday, and 100,000 over the weekend as a whole, yet travel experts continue to warn of another ‘staycation.’

Recent figures indicate that Palma, Tenerife, and Alicante in Spain were the most popular routes served by Glasgow, with Dalaman, Turkey, close behind. The airport was optimistic about a series of new destinations being offered by UK tour operators, Kiss Flights and Barrhead Travel, who have recently set up shop at the Scottish airport.

Glasgow's director, Amanda McMillan, was delighted with the busy weekend – ‘It is fantastic to see so many holidaymakers passing through the airport, particularly given the challenges faced by the aviation industry.’ Amanda said that travellers had defied the credit crunch to spend time away from Britain’s unreliable weather.

Despite warnings of a 'double-dip' recession, it seems likely that Britons will continue to holiday abroad during the summer, especially if a recent survey by Tesco is to be believed. The shopping giant found that a week in Limassol, Cyprus, came in at £470 cheaper than a week in Brighton.

Holidays in Bodrum, Turkey, Budapest in Hungary, Warsaw in Poland, and Ljubljana in Slovenia were also less expensive than England’s famous resort. The city of Sofia, Bulgaria, offered the best value for money, costing half of what a family of four could expect to pay for a week in Brighton.

If prices at foreign resorts continue to fall, the Scottish government could find itself out of pocket - ministers recently invested £5m in the Visit Scotland initiative, designed to drum up interest in local resorts.

The airline industry has been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons. As if the recession hadn’t been enough, suddenly BA was suffering major industrial action, and then the entire UK airline industry came to a halt in spectacular fashion with the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajoekull.

Now the extent of the damage caused by the BA strike and the volcanic ash shutdown has been revealed by BAA. The company owns six airports in the UK: Heathrow, Glasgow, Stansted, Edinburgh, Southampton and Aberdeen. It has just announced that in May 2010 the amount of customers to use its airports was just 8.6 million in total – a drop of 4.5% compared to May 2009.

BAA confirmed that, as a result of the volcanic ash and the BA strike, it lost a massive 445,000 passengers – not the best news when you are trying to recover from a recession.

In terms of individual airports, Heathrow saw 5.3 million passengers pass through during the month, a fall of 3.1%; Glasgow saw 560,000 passengers (down 13.7%); and Edinburgh saw 726,000 (down 11.6%).

The biggest overall fall came in domestic flights, with a drop of 16.5% recorded for the month. However, an increase of over 5% was reported for charter flights to Europe and North Africa, which was some good news at least.

Without the volcanic ash and the strike, BAA predicted that it would have seen a 2.8% increase in passenger numbers at Heathrow, and a 0.4% increase over the whole group.

The first week of June produced a snapshot of the typical British summertime – one part sunshine, two parts torrential rain. It should come as no surprise then that many Britons are choosing to holiday abroad this year, rather than risk having their trip to the seaside interrupted by unpredictable weather.

UK airlines capitalise on this mass exodus to the continent and beyond by announcing their summer schedules early. Flybe, for example, unveiled its summer routes out of Leeds-Bradford in October 2009, much to the delight of local travellers. Thomson has done one better this year, however, by unveiling its summer 2011 flight roster a full year early.

Routes from Glasgow to Pula in coastal Croatia, the West African island of Cape Verde, and the tropical paradise of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic will begin on 14 May and run until the end of October 2011. The destinations should provide travellers with better value for money than the more popular resorts in the European Union.

Thomson, which was recently named ‘Best Leisure Airline’ at the World Airline Awards in Hamburg, Germany, will offer the flights through its package holiday arm. Glasgow Airport director, Amanda McMillan, expects the popularity of all-inclusive holidays to grow over the next few years,
‘Holidaymakers appear to be returning to the traditional package holiday because of the value for money and the choice of destinations they serve,’ Amanda explained. ‘Thomson’s new flights are good news for holidaymakers’. The new destinations are just one of a number of changes expected at Glasgow in the future.

On the 8 June, airport bosses will introduce a £2m scheme designed to reduce congestion and improve access around the Abbotsinch hub. Contractors will redevelop a number of roads in the immediate area, helping to reduce waiting times, and driving vehicle emissions down. The airport hopes that the new road layout will give Glasgow the ‘look and feel’ of a major international hub.

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Plane is 'Great News' for Glasgow

Thomas Cook has added a sixth plane to its Glasgow fleet, in anticipation of a busy summer season. The airline, which was founded in Derbyshire in the 1800s, is currently marketing 29 ‘sun and sea’ routes from Glasgow to a wide range of destinations, including Spain, Mexico, and Florida.

Airport chief, Amanda McMillan, praised Thomas Cook’s investment, calling it ‘great news for holidaymakers.’ The new plane will cement the airline’s position as one of the largest carriers in the country, and help Glasgow Airport lure thousands more passengers to its terminals.

Glasgow has suffered a string of problems over the past few months, not least of which is the continuing threat of cancellations from the Eyjafjoll volcano. The airport’s second terminal was shut down over the winter, as spiralling costs bit into Glasgow’s bank balance. Thomas Cook’s vote of confidence will no doubt come as a relief to airport bosses.

The airline will roll three new destinations out of Glasgow during the summer, namely, Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia. Mrs. McMillan was preparing the airport for a surge in demand – ‘We are working hard to ensure we are ready to welcome the hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers who will pass through our doors during the summer months.’

Glasgow’s future looks uncertain, however, as the owner, the British Airports Authority (BAA), continues to struggle against the Competition Commission. The watchdog wants to break up the BAA’s monopoly over UK aviation, a move that could result in the sale of Stansted, Glasgow, or Edinburgh airports.

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The British Airport Authority’s (BAA) monthly traffic figures have revealed the true extent of the disruption caused by the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjoll.

Despite its newfound infamy, Eyjafjoll has suddenly become very boring. Media coverage of the mountain’s spluttering has been overwhelming, and every second or third press release by UK airlines seems to have something to do with volcanic ash.

The attention is warranted – Eyjafjoll is still coughing at the bleak Icelandic sky, even today – but a month of press reports about stranded passengers, flight cancellations and unhappy airline bosses is enough to make the fineries of UK politics seem very interesting indeed. Of course, the bad news keeps rolling in.

During April, Glasgow Airport lost 29% of its regular flyers to volcanic ash, more than any other BAA airport. Edinburgh and Aberdeen, two of the largest airports in Scotland, lost 28% and 26% of their customers respectively, in what has come to be known as the worst travel crisis since the Second World War.

Southampton Airport achieved top marks for the second month in a row, despite losing 19% of its passengers. Heathrow was down 21% on the same period last year, whilst Stansted lost just over 24% of its customer base. Even distant Naples, BAA’s only continental airport, suffered a slump in passenger numbers during April.

Glasgow’s continuing problems stem from the isolated nature of many of its domestic destinations. The Abbotsinch hub offers flights to Benbecula and Tiree airports on the Outer Hebrides, two sites that have endured frequent closures since Eyjafjoll began erupting in April.

A 21-year-old man was arrested last week, after attempting to smuggle 50kg of the drug mephedrone through Glasgow Airport. The substance, which was recently declared illegal, is known colloquially as Meow Meow, and contributed to the deaths of at least two teenagers in March this year.

Mephedrone, not to be confused with methadone, a synthetic painkiller used to reduce withdrawal effects in recovering drug addicts, was known until the beginning of April as a ‘legal high,’ despite growing concern about its misuse. Dealers would sell the drug under the guise of plant food or bath salts, often to young teenagers.

The deaths of a number of people across the world led to an investigation into mephedrone, which ultimately led to its inclusion in the Misuse of Drugs Act as a Class B substance, alongside cannabis, speed, and codeine. The recent mephedrone bust at Glasgow Airport was one of the first arrests of its kind in Scotland.

Officers predict that the street-value of the haul would have been close to £500,000. The drug was intended for an address in Ayrshire, which prompted the search of four properties in the area. Detective Allan Moffat, of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, was concerned that people may still believe that mephedrone is ‘safe.’

‘Classifying the drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act sends a clear message that the substance is harmful, and it is vital that users understand the risks,’ Detective Moffat explained. The Glasgow incident was Scotland’s fourth mephedrone-related arrest in under a week, after three men were taken into custody during the previous weekend.

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From Friday 19th to Monday 22nd, British Airways (BA) cancelled 238 flights from eleven of its UK airports, including 90% of all scheduled flights to Scotland, as a three-day strike by its cabin crew team entered its final phase.

Glasgow Airport was left with just one flight to the English capital, whereas Aberdeen and Edinburgh were stripped of all but seven and two flights respectively.

The airline loses an estimated £7m for every day that its stewards fail to turn up for work, leading some commentators to believe that BA boss, Willie Walsh, is just being stubborn.

With a second four-day strike pencilled in for the 27th, general workers union, Unite, is confident that BA’s business model is crumbling and an end to its siege of the airline is just around the corner.

Unite has been fighting to prevent BA from cutting jobs and slashing wages. The union has been unable to break the airline in 13 months, however, a testament to either Willie Walsh’s dedication or a stunning example of mule-like inflexibility.

He branded the strike a 'cynical attack' on BA’s customers. Gordon Brown called it 'deplorable' whilst Unite continued to accuse the airline of looking for a fight.

Early this morning, BA advised all striking staff members that their travel bonuses had been permanently revoked, including entitlements to free or discounted flights. The news will undoubtedly be viewed as an act of desperation by Unite and the British tabloids, but there is currently no reason for BA to back down.

The airline claims that contingency plans are working and the escalating cost of the strike will have minimal effect on the airline’s profits. Unite has promised not to arrange a picket over the Easter holidays, but beyond that, there is no end in sight.

Kiss Flights is to add twelve new routes for Glasgow Airport. The news comes just days after Thomas Cook augmented its Scottish schedules with six flights to the continent, helping to repair the hole left by the collapse of Flyglobespan.

Glasgow Airport will be the airline’s first hub outside England. Kiss will operate the new routes on a code share basis with other carriers, including Swedish company, Viking Airlines.

Destinations in Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus in the Mediterranean, and Turkey in the Near East, have all been added to Glasgow’s timetables, mirroring those announced by Thomas Cook earlier in the month.

Kiss director, Paul Moss, revealed that the new routes were the result of heavy pressure from the travel industry, encouraging the young airline to set up shop in Scotland. Glasgow bosses noted that Kiss was the ‘first of many’ airlines due to arrive at the airport over the coming weeks.

Amanda McMillan, director at Glasgow, was full of praise for Kiss Flights – “Kiss is a new name, but the airline has a great deal of past experience in the UK travel industry, and they have made a significant commitment to Glasgow Airport this year.”

Both Thomas Cook and Kiss will begin offering their ‘summer sun’ flights between June and August 2010 – the busiest period of the year for airlines. Barrhead Travel, a tour operator, will also be providing flights to the continent, using aircraft borrowed from British Airways.

Experts predict that as many as 700,000 flights a year disappeared when Flyglobespan went bust. The next twelve months could prove critical to the survival of Glasgow Airport.

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The GARL (Glasgow Airport Rail Link) must not be axed, say business leaders, after it was shelved on September 27th 2009. In the Draft Scottish Budget, it was announced that the GARL project would be abandoned in favour of improving existing infrastructure, saving the government around £120 million in construction fees.

Local executives have reacted angrily to the decision, believing that the GARL is the only way to save Glasgow Airport from financial oblivion. The Abbotsinch site endured the worst of the recent recession, and recently closed its second terminal to cut losses over the winter season. Budget airline EasyJet took umbrage with the decision.

A letter from the Chamber of Commerce to the Financial Secretary accused the Scottish government of having “priorities lying elsewhere” and forcing a “backwards step” for local businesses. Officials cited a £500 million downsizing in Scotland’s budget for the decision, but capitalists fear that much more money could be lost from the government’s vault if access to Glasgow Airport is not improved.

Job losses and a steady rise in traffic jams (especially in the area between Paisley and Abbotsinch) could further exacerbate the city’s problems, encouraging investors to head north to Edinburgh or south of the border into England.

GARL could have produced 1,300 direct jobs, and helped Glasgow compete with fellow BAA airport Edinburgh. The Chambers of Commerce are concerned that Scotland’s economy could stagnate without continued investment in transport infrastructure. Improvements to the M74 and M80 motorways, and the construction of a new hospital, are thought to supersede the GARL project.

Glasgow Airport is to close its second terminal (T2) over the winter period, in an effort to curb losses and consolidate operations. The building is currently a major EasyJet hub. Operations will be suspended for the duration of the winter season, from 17th November 2009 to 31st March 2010. Officials are hoping to save around £300,000 in maintenance costs.

Airport director, Derek Provan, said it was “economic sense” to put T2 on ice over the winter freeze. Glasgow has suffered persistent losses in the wake of the recent recession, falling behind fellow BAA airport, Edinburgh.

Mr. Provan remains optimistic about the future of the airport, despite claims that the Abbotsinch facility is going the way of the dodo, “The airport is a commercial operation. We need to keep a tight control over our costs so we can make best use of our resources, and invest for the future." An impressive £43m has been invested in Glasgow Airport over the past two years.

Not everybody is happy to see T2 shut down. EasyJet has refused to play fair, declining to leave its spot in the second terminal unless replacement check-in facilities are provided in the main terminal.

The carrier has demanded that the alternative hub be a permanent fixture, painted orange and white.

EasyJet is Glasgow’s most productive airline, providing a huge percentage of the airport’s income. Officials had no choice but to accede to the airline’s request. The main terminal will continue to operate as normal over the winter months.

Glasgow Airport is to consider closing one of its two terminals in a drastic cost-cutting exercise. Terminal 2, only opened five years ago, houses the check-in desks of easyJet, Aer Lingus, Thomas Cook and Canadian Affair. The terminal cost £12 million to build and it is estimated that closing it down over the quieter winter months could save hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The airport’s managing director, Amanda McMillan, was only appointed in 2008. She is looking at a range of economy measures as the airport copes with declining numbers of passengers. As well as the economic climate, the collapse of the Canadian airline Zoom and holiday company XL have also added to these losses. Glasgow is now only the second busiest airport in Scotland having lost its number one position to Edinburgh recently.

Officials at the airport have said that they are looking at a range of options to control its costs and that although they are in discussions with the airlines about the possible closure nothing has been agreed at this stage. Talks have also been held between the airline and representatives of the 200 Terminal 2 staff. The airport is denying that any jobs would be lost because of the potential shut down.

EasyJet have refused to move into the main terminal unless the move is a permanent one and the costs remain the same as they are for Terminal 2. They say ‘we don’t think it would be fair for our passengers who use us all year round.’

Despite the likely closure and also the recent cancellation of the proposed rail link to Glasgow Airport, the airport says that the long term £200 million investment over the next ten years would not be affected.

Glasgow Airport has been handed a wooden spoon, after being placed last in the British Airport Authority’s (BAA) monthly traffic table. The Scottish facility has lost close to 1.4m customers over the past two years, effectively ending the airport’s chances of avoiding the saleroom.

When the credit crunch demolished the XL Leisure Company in September 2008, Manchester, Gatwick, and Glasgow airports lost a major holiday provider. Since then, the package holiday industry has been in freefall.

In August, Windsor and Neate, a cruise company based in Newbury, collapsed. The Grim Reaper then came for the Package Holiday Company, a Leeds-based endeavour, and local Glaswegian firm, Cambuslang Travel, a few days later.

With a local company and a major carrier pushing up the daisies, Glasgow Airport was stricken, losing 13.4% of its passengers in just one month.

Overall, the BAA’s seven airports experienced a 5% drop in customer traffic during August 2009. Fifty miles east of Glasgow, Edinburgh Airport enjoyed a 4.8% rise in passenger numbers, due in part to the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe, and the establishment of a new Ryanair base at the site.

A spokesperson for the BAA was quick to boast about the airport’s successes: "With five consecutive months of rising passenger numbers, Edinburgh is one of the few UK airports currently enjoying a period of growth.”

The BAA’s joy could be short-lived, however. In October, the Competition Commission could force the firm to sell one of its Scottish airports, further dismantling the BAA’s monopoly over UK aerospace.

A legal tussle has pushed any prospective sale back to 2012, but with Glasgow’s business model going down the tubes, the airport may find itself flying a new flag within the next five years.

Following the events in June 2007, when Glasgow airport was attacked by attempted suicide bombers, the airport has undergone a huge security revamp on its inner forecourt. The work consisted of installing 300 security bollards and the whole operation cost a reported £2 million.

Security levels were increased as a result, but there was one group of travellers who were inconvenienced by the ongoing works more than any other, and that was those who were arriving by public transport.

However, it was recently announced that the work on this area has now been completed, and once again Glasgow airport will be welcoming back public transport.

After the completion of the work was announced, bus operators in Glasgow stated that they were going to try to increase the number of people arriving at the airport by public transport by 15%, which is up 4% on the current figure. Although this is an ambitious target, it is hoped that this figure will be achieved by 2012.

Amanda McMillan, the managing director of Glasgow airport, has said that the reopening marks a “return to normal for Glasgow airport," and that it is vital to “continue to reduce congestion” around the airport by encouraging a greater level of public transport usage.

This is great news for eco-conscious travellers, and the plans are set to get a further boost in 2013 with the opening of a new rail link, which will surely tempt a larger proportion of the nine million passengers who use the airport annually, to arrive by public transport in the future.

The chances are that we were all glued to our television screens recently when news filtered through that a plane had been forced to make an emergency landing on a river in New York. Many of us thought terrorists had once again wreaked havoc with the aviation industry, particularly given the location of the forced landing.

However, it quickly transpired that the incident had been caused by birds flying into the plane’s engines. The passengers and crew members were extremely lucky to survive and the last thing any of us now want to see is a repeat episode of this scary event.

It therefore comes as disturbing news to find out that airport officials are concerned that planes departing from and arriving at Glasgow airport could suffer similar fates. Officials are worried that birds currently roosting close to the airport could fly into jet engines and cause a tragedy.

An area close to the runways at Glasgow is home to whooper swans which migrate from Iceland. According to BAA, the birds should be moved from this area. However, disturbing the birds is disallowed since they are not only a protected species but are also inhabiting a site of special scientific interest.

A spokeswoman for BAA was keen to downplay the panic surrounding this latest news. She revealed that bird patrols occur throughout the day and night, and several measures are performed which aim to prevent birds approaching the runways. These measures include spraying chemicals to remove nutrients from the area immediately surrounding the runway and playing fake noises of distressed birds.

The Irish airline Aer Lingus are kings of their homeland and are the British Airways of the skies in their home country. Since they were founded in 1936, the Dublin based airline has grown from strength to strength and currently has over 41 Airbus aircraft. Roughly a quarter of their ownership comes from the Irish government and another quarter surprisingly from the other Irish airline Ryanair and the influence from the latter might explain their latest move.

This year sees Aer Lingus seriously considering setting up camp outside their own island. Following a move to Belfast last year, which then gave them three bases in Dublin, Cork and then the Northern Irish capital, they now have their sights set on one of either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Aer Lingus’ corporate affairs editor, Enda Corneille, announced the plans for one of the two sites to be the next step for the airline but he gave no time scale as it would all be dependent on acquiring three new aircraft to serve the airline. The plan would ideally be to use these three new aircraft to serve up to ten European cities.

Although they part-own some of Aer Lingus, Ryanair look like they won’t allow the move with some stiff but healthy competitive opposition and they already have a head start at Prestwick and are making good ground in Edinburgh.

Scottish travellers have been hit hard this month with new scheduling put in place which will affect routes between Heathrow and Glasgow airports.

Earlier in July it was reported that BA would be dropping the 6am service from Glasgow to Heathrow meaning that the first daily service will be 7 am, too late for many travellers who commute to London for business. The airline has now announced that it will be bringing forward the last flight of the day, from Heathrow to Glasgow, changing the time from 8pm to 6.45 pm. It is thought that the new times will affect Scottish commuters who may have to work late in London and could easily miss the last connection up north. According to Bill Munro of Business Travel, the new timetable could also adversely affect Scottish holidaymakers. He said, “the new times will not connect well with a lot of holiday flights. It could mean passengers having to spend an extra night in London on their return journey.”

The changes will be put in place starting from October 2008, reducing the number of BA flights between the two cities from ten to nine. The changes have raised particular concerns over BA’s commitment to business in Scotland with business leaders believing that BA has not taken into account the flexibility of travel times required for business users. BA have denied the accusations maintaining that Scottish travellers are extremely important to BA and that the changes are being taken in the interest of the airline as a whole. A spokesperson from the airline said, “We operate more flights a day to Scotland than we do to any other part of our worldwide network.”

A £4 million boost has been given to the Scottish terrorism security fund a year after a terrorist attack on Glasgow airport. New security systems include funds for at least fifty new counter-terrorism jobs that are aimed at preventing this kind of disaster from happening again.

On Saturday 30th June 2007, a dark green Jeep was driven into Glasgow airport’s main terminal glass doors. The Jeep had been loaded with propane canisters and it instantly caught fire. It was only one day after the attempted terror attack in London which was thankfully foiled. The Glasgow attack has since been linked to it.

Nobody was killed in the fire at Glasgow airport but six people, including the driver of the car, were seriously injured and suffered severe burns. Now, a year on from the Glasgow attack, Scottish ministers have given police chiefs an extra £4 million to tackle the threat of terrorism.

The extra cash will pay for more than fifty counter-terrorism officers in an attempt to better prepare for these types of attacks and prevent them from happening again in the future. The money will also go towards educating staff on issues surrounding terrorism as well as on communication and other key elements integral to terrorism prevention.

In comparison to England, who spent £472 million on anti-terrorism in the last financial year (2007/08), Scotland only allocated £12 million. To match England’s spending levels, Scotland would have needed to spend around £50 million, so this £4 million boost is a step in the right direction for Scottish anti-terrorism action.

Since the 9/11 twin towers disaster back in 2001, the awareness of Islamic extremism is a lot higher for everybody. Between 11th September 2001 and 31st March last year (2007) 1165 arrests were made under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Glasgow Airport is determined to win back the title of Scotland’s busiest airport, an accolade currently held by Edinburgh. £25 million is to be spent between now and the end of the year on upgrading and updating the main terminal building in order to improve the whole experience for passengers. According to the airport’s managing director, it will be a “21st century gateway for the west of Scotland.”

The new Skyhub will be excellent news for passengers who, from October, will be channelled through a single security zone complete with hi-tech capabilities. Room will also be made for new shops, bars and restaurants as an important part of BAA’s £200 million investment in the airport over the next ten years.

Passenger numbers have gone up by 60% in the last decade and projected figures show that no fewer than 24 million passengers could be passing through Glasgow Airport by 2030, attracted by the increase in numbers of long haul flights, new scheduled international flights, and the improved facilities.

This spring, routes to the Canadian cities of Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver are to be introduced, whilst later in the year flights will leave Glasgow for Cardiff, Newquay, Plymouth, La Rochelle in France and Faro, gateway airport for Portugal’s Algarve. Scotland’s most successful intercontinental route, Glasgow to Dubai, is evidence of the airport’s potential; over half a million passengers travelled on the Emirates route in the first three years of its operation.

The massive investment is not only good news for passengers but also for the economy and, in particular, employment in the area. Currently 5300 people work at the airport but 7000 new jobs are expected to be created as a result of the revamp.