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Scottish Greens launch campaign against the expansion of Inverness Airport


By Alistair Whitfield

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The Scottish Greens are warning the proposed expansion of Inverness Airport will harm both the environment and the region.

Despite the pandemic Highlands Islands Airports Ltd, which runs the airport, believes passenger numbers will more than double over the next 25 years.

Proposals are now on the table to either expand the current terminal or build a completely new one.

The public consultation on these proposals will end this Sunday.

Inverness Airport
Inverness Airport

Ariane Burgess, who is set to stand for the Scottish Greens in the forthcoming Holyrood elections, is urging people to make their feelings known before then.

She said: "If this goes ahead it would be bad for the environment, and bad for our communities.

Scottish Green candidate Ariane Burgess.
Scottish Green candidate Ariane Burgess.

"It would be a totally inappropriate use of money during the climate emergency, and especially when we should be prioritising better bus and train services for the region.

"Inverness Airport is more than adequate when it comes to providing necessary life-line services across the Highlands and Islands.

"As we build a recovery from Covid, instead of driving growth in air traffic we should be prioritising sustainable transport and giving people across the region the transport infrastructure that has so-often been promised but not delivered.

"It is vital that as many people as possible fill in this consultation and make clear that we do not want to see this damaging, expensive and totally unnecessary expansion."

Highlands Islands Airports Ltd has estimated that passengers numbers will increase from the 800,000 recorded in 2018 up to 1.8 million passengers by the year 2045.

It is also predicting that flights will increase by around 50 per cent over the same period.

A masterplan outlining can be found here which outlines four different ways the airport could be expanded.

This same document also contains details about how people can submit their opinions.

Plans have also separately announced about the possibility of a train station being built near the airport.

Related article: New terminal mooted for Inverness Airport



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