First Minister Swinney briefed to support Sumburgh airport carpark charges
First Minister John Swinney was briefed to support the re-introduction of carparking charges at Sumburgh airport ahead of a visit to the isles this August, despite criticism that the change won’t dent the operator’s losses.
In a briefing document seen under Freedom of Information (FoI) law, aides warn the first minister he might be accosted by passengers about the fees — which were reintroduced by operators Highlands and Islands Airport Limited (Hial) earlier this year.
Only a month prior Shetland’s MSP Beatrice Wishart had called for the charges to be scrapped, and described them as “a tax on islanders”.
An entire annex to Mr Swinney’s briefing for a visit to Sumburgh airport is dedicated to the controversy. In it, aides write that the fees are ultimately about squaring public finances.
“In order to reduce the cost to the taxpayer, we continue to encourage HIAL, like other public bodies, to maximise their commercial revenue and reduce their costs,” it reads.
“This will not be raised by Hial staff,” it adds, but might be “if the First Minister engages with other passengers.”
Hial data seen under FoI law by Ms Wishart’s office in July demonstrated that, when charges were last in force, they generated between 0.05 and 1.5 percent of the airport’s total income.
“Car parking charges at Sumburgh Airport is just another tax on islanders simply for living where we do, and I remain in disagreement with HIAL’s policy,” said Ms Wishart at the time.
The same information request revealed that installing the carpark’s barriers and ticket machines cost almost £120,000.
“It would appear from the FoI that income from parking charges is not needed to keep the lights on at the airport, and with broken equipment that couldn’t cope with the weather it has been somewhat of a fiasco already.”
Mr Swinney’s briefing also acknowledges that in the past parking meters have been “not functioning, partly due to the weather conditions on the island”.
In response to Ms Wishart’s criticisms, Andrew Farquhar, Hial’s director of airport operations said: “Like many other organisations, we face significant financial pressures in maintaining and developing the infrastructure and services that our passengers expect.
“As a public body operating 11 airports, one of our priorities is to increase commercial revenue to reinvest in our services and reduce public subsidy. The return from car parking at our airports provides an income stream that will help to minimise the subsidy requirement and ultimately reduce the cost to the taxpayer.”
Sumburgh airport has operated at a loss since 2018. The visit briefing notes £2.1 million of subsidy funding in the last financial year, plus £566,000 more to build new security fences.
Mr Swinney’s August visit also saw him visit Mid-Yell junior high school, Lerwick Port Authority, Scalloway harbour, the University of the Highlands and Islands, Lerwick’s incinerator and a Dunrossness croft.
Like the Sumburgh briefing, aides describe “sensitivities” for these visits. Each, however, is redacted — on grounds of protecting “the free and frank provision of advice”.