Gavin Newlands MP reacts angrily to Ryanair cutting its presence at Glasgow Airport
Gavin Newlands, SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has reacted angrily to the announcement from Ryanair that they’re slashing the number of routes travelling into Glasgow Airport.
Glasgow Airport lies in Gavin Newlands’ Paisley and Renfrewshire constituency with the airport being one of the biggest employers in the area.
On Tuesday morning, Ryanair announced that they are closing their base at Glasgow Airport and slashing the number of routes from 23 to 3. Following this announcement, Mr Newlands challenged the UK Government’s Treasury team in the House of Commons to intervene to help secure the future growth of Glasgow Airport .
Gavin Newlands, SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, said:
“This bitterly disappointing announcement by Ryanair will be painful news to Glasgow Airport and the wider Renfrewshire economy. This announcement could result in 300 local jobs being lost, a reduction of 20 flight routes and a loss of up to 1.2 million passengers.
“My first thoughts are with the local staff who may be affected by this disappointing announcement and I’m ready to offer any assistance that I can.
“I am really frustrated with the leadership of Ryanair who have over the past few months been in a state of disarray.
“The behaviour of Ryanair raises some serious questions, but this announcement also shows that the shambolic Brexit negotiations are having a detrimental impact on the airline industry. The European Commission has regularly warned that the UK will leave the single aviation market when it leaves the EU and the UK Government have continued to ignore these warnings, despite the deep worries of those working in the airline industry.
“We need to do more to protect and grow our airline industry. The Scottish Government’s Air Departure Tax is one way in which we can do this as soon as the issues surrounding tax emption for flights departing from the Highlands and Islands have been resolved. The UK Government cannot delay this any longer - they should support these proposals and ensure they are approved by the European Commission.
“However, the attempts to grow our airline industry will be hampered whilst the UK Government trudges on unprepared with the Brexit negotiations. Their ineptitude and arrogance are already having an impact and its past time that they wake up and start treating these negotiations with the seriousness that they deserve.”
