New bidder expresses interest in Prestwick Airport

A new expression of interest has been made in buying the Scottish government-owned Prestwick Airport.

The airport was brought into public ownership in 2013 for £1, with the intent for it to return to the private sector when it returned to profit.

Earlier this year, Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray said the operating profit for the travel hub was £1.9m.

A previous takeover of the Ayrshire airport in 2020 fell through.

MSPs have now been told of the latest proposal, from an unnamed party.

Appearing before the economy and fair work committee on Wednesday, chief executive Ian Forgie was asked if there were any credible bids on the table for the airport.

He said: "We're currently looking at one expression of interest that is going through that early process of diligence and we'll give more details in due course."

The Scottish government bought Prestwick Airport from its previous New Zealand owners a decade ago to avoid its closure, and funded its loss-making operations with more than £50m of loans.

During his appearance before the committee, Mr Gray stated that there was a non-disclosure agreement in place between the airport and the prospective bidder, meaning he could not give more detail.

Asked how many bids had been passed to ministers, Forsyth Black, the airport's non-executive chairman, said there had been none during his two years in post.

He added a "small number" of bids did not passed required tests.

Mr Forgie stated that the collapse of the 2020 bid was "purely" due to the "impact of the pandemic", with hit the aviation sector hard.

Mr Gray said while the Scottish government wanted to see the airport back in private hands, there must be conditions to any takeover.

He said: "We want those terms to be clear, that (buyers) are going to provide a clear future pathway for the airport, that they demonstrate they've got the finance and the experience in order to be able to make it a success, and that they're going to continue to show and demonstrate wider economic development in the area."

Mr Gray added that the government would not "sell on any terms", and that he was not concerned about the chances of a sale back into the private sector as the Scottish government was not a "distressed seller."

Figures released in November revealed that revenue at the Ayrshire airport had risen from £35m to £58m, partly due to the number of transatlantic military flights using the base for stopovers.

The figures also showed that passenger traffic more than trebled to 459,000 last year, but it remains a relatively small part of operations at the airport.