Delay to air traffic centre confirmed

Transatlantic flights have been reduced

The UK Government has confirmed that plans to construct a new air traffic control centre at Prestwick have been delayed.

The Department of Transport has blamed the downturn in air traffic since last month's terrorist attacks on the United States for the decision.

The confirmation comes almost two weeks after BBC Scotland revealed that the £60m centre could be shelved for two years.

And it has prompted a Scottish National Party call for the government to step in.

Elsewhere, the Scottish Conservatives said the delay was unacceptable.

Adam Ingram attacked the decision

Construction work on the new centre at Prestwick - which will share cover with Swanwick, near Southampton - was expected to create 600 jobs in Ayrshire.

However, it emerged at the start of this month that the project could be delayed by up to two years.

The centre will be operated by a consortium of airlines which bought a controlling share in the National Air Traffic Services (Nats) last year.

They told the government that they wanted to shelve capital projects, including Prestwick, because of an expected downturn in income from transatlantic flights.

But Nats has said that it remains committed to investing in a new centre in Scotland.

Written answer

"We expect to be in a position to take decisions about capital investment by the end of the year when our new business plan is complete," said a spokesperson earlier this month.

The decision, which was confirmed on Tuesday in a written parliamentary answer at Westminster, was attacked by SNP transport spokesman Adam Ingram.

The MSP said it was contrary to the national interest to allow an indefinite delay to the construction.

Maximum pressure from all sides must be mounted on this government to force it to step in now to ensure no further delay to this vital project

Adam Ingram

"The SNP and others who opposed the privatisation of Nats have been proved correct in their arguments that the safety of air travellers should not be compromised by the transfer of public ownership and control to the private sector - which is answerable only to company shareholders," he said.

"This decision by the UK Government to delay the construction of the new centre must be rescinded.

"It is beyond belief that a government which was forced to take Railtrack back into public control would repeat that error with Nats, which is clearly heading in the direction of being a Railtrack of the skies.

"Maximum pressure from all sides must be mounted on this government to force it to step in now to ensure no further delay to this vital project."

Scottish Tory MSP Phil Gallie said: "The horrendous attacks on the USA bolster the need for a twin centred approach to air traffic control, and increase the importance of getting the centre up and running.

"Any delay only further increases the threat to the public in the long run by failing to provide a back up if any difficulties are experienced with the current air traffic control centre.

"This new delay confirms my suspicion that the government is not committed to the twin centred approach to air traffic control, and is looking for any excuse to postpone it."