Plane talker
- March 2011
Derek Provan on Aberdeen
Airport’s new flight path
Size definitely does matter - at least when you are talking about airport runway length.
Work begins this month on the £10 million extension of Aberdeen Airport’s main runway and the additional 124 metres which will have a major impact, not just for passengers, but for the economy of the region.
The development comes as Aer Lingus launches a new service to Dublin which connects with New York flights and Easyjet prepares to launch a daily service to Gatwick.
The runway extension has been years in the planning but by May 2012 it should finally be complete and already the Aberdeen Airport team is trying to capitalise on the opportunities which the extension creates.
Derek Provan, who was recently appointed Managing Director, said that the extension will open up new destinations and allow existing carriers to work more efficiently.
“At a time when aviation has struggled under the weight of a difficult year, this will provide many with a much needed boost. The project demonstrates a commitment to the whole region by Aberdeen Airport, investing exclusively private funds into such an important project.”
Mr Provan said the support of the local community, business organisations and political leaders had been important in reaching this point. Their backing shows how vital this project is to the continued prosperity of the airport and its expansion and reflects the importance of the project to the whole of the North-east.
Much of the work will be carried out overnight to ensure the airport can continue operating as normal and efforts are being made to work alongside local residents to minimise disruption.
“The extension in total is 124 metres and that gives us 100 metres usable length,” he said.
“It means a number of things for us. First and foremost it allows existing carriers to maintain their operations without some of the logistical difficulties that they can experience with the current runway length due to severe weather.
“Some aircraft, in particular wind conditions, have to operate with a limited load factor but the runway extension will take that issue away.
“Secondly it opens up opportunities for us to discuss new routes with new airlines.”
He explained that in the past some operators had been reticent about discussing prospective routes because of the risk of reduced load factors in certain weather conditions and the significant start-up costs involved.
“The runway extension takes that risk away which is allowing us to have new conversations with new airlines.
“We need the extended runway to meet our airlines’ needs and while that in itself doesn’t guarantee anything we can now sit at the table and discuss new routes.
“There are no guarantees in the aviation industry but we are in a far better place today than we have ever been.”
He said a number of airlines had provided letters of support for the extension indicating that they would seriously consider new operations if it was built and efforts to persuade them to do so were now underway.
“However by the end of January airlines have effectively placed all their assets for 2011 so we are really looking at 2012.
“The two key negatives in the past have been runway length and the fact there is a relatively small population in the catchment area compared to some of the larger central belt cities and we are competing globally, not just in Scotland.
“The positives are that there is clearly a market for business and leisure. The huge business market is underlined by the oil industry and before the demise of Globespan in 2009 there was a significant demand for leisure flights.”
Mr Provan welcomed the start of a new Aer Lingus Regional service to Dublin (operated by Aer Arann) this month which will allow passengers to connect with Aer Lingus flights to New York.
The flights are daily except Saturday and passengers flying on to New York will benefit from the new US Customs and Immigrations clearance facilities in Dublin which will allow them to arrive in the US as domestic passengers.
“It starts to develop and stimulate a route which has existed before,” said Mr Provan
“One of the results of the cancellation of plans for a third runway at Heathrow is capacity constraints which for Aberdeen will mean a greater possibility of increased hubbing through other European airports.
“For example we would like to create routes which will stimulate both business and leisure in the German market particularly to help grow inbound tourism in the North-east.
”Point to point leisure is another key focus for us and we are working hard to try and secure both sun spots and European city destinations.”
Mr Provan, who is originally from Glasgow, started his BAA career as a fire-fighter 13 years ago and is thoroughly enjoying his new role.
“I feel very welcomed by the business community in particular in the North-east he siad. “I often hear that Aberdeen is a village but I think from a business perspective it is a significant commercial powerhouse in the UK.”
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