Glasgow Airport defend expansion plans
24.06.08
Glasgow Airport bosses have defended plans to build a huge extension - despite environmental campaigners claiming air passenger numbers will slump, the Evening Times reports. WWF Scotland say independent research has called into question the need for planned airport expansion at Scotland's major airports - including Glasgow's £30 million Skyhub extension.
Government transport chiefs predict passengers using Glasgow Airport will almost triple by 2030, from 6.9m to 19.6m a year. But WWF say these forecasts of the number of flyers - which are based on fuel at $60 a barrel compared to almost $140 now - are ‘pie in the sky’ because soaring oil prices will affect air fares and this will drive down demand for flights. It estimates there will be a combined 350 million air passengers in 2030, nearly 150 million fewer than predicted.
However, a spokesman for Glasgow Airport told the newspaper: ‘BAA's long term forecasts are based on a wide range of economic factors, of which the price of oil is just one. BAA has ambitious, sustainable and achievable plans to develop Glasgow Airport over the next quarter century, with the £30 million skyhub extension, due to open in October, just one of many developments planned. Our forecasts suggest, long term, passenger numbers will continue to grow at Glasgow. It is sensible that we plan for that growth now.
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