PRESTWICK AIRPORT (Hansard, 10 December 1958)

§ Mr. John Rankin (Glasgow, Govan)
I want to exercise my right as a Member of the House to raise a matter of the utmost concern to myself, to many local authorities in Scotland, to many people who are expert in the running of airways throughout the United Kingdom, and to hundreds of people who were affected by our airway services during last week; people who came to this country from all over the world and who were unable to return to their homelands from London Airport.
I raise the matter also because of an answer which was given to me this afternoon by the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation because of an article in a Scottish newspaper, which I have in my hand, and because, in company with another hon. Member, I was at Euston Station last weekend watching a train which was packed from the guards van to the engine with 300 or 400 passengers bound for Prestwick. Their aircraft had been unable to take off from London Airport.
That evening the British Broadcasting Corporation told the world that London was fogbound and could not receive or send out any planes. That was a great advertisement for us from the voice of Britain. It failed to tell the world that while London had been rendered useless Prestwick was still functioning and was sending out and receiving planes from all over the world. I have written to Sir Ian Jacobs protesting on behalf of many Scottish people who have been told that it is had business that we should advertise that at certain periods we are unable to handle aircraft at London, although it is known, at least to some of us —

§ Mr. Rankin
It is known to some of us that when—

§ Mr. S. Silverman
On a point of order Is not the Question now put to the House?

§ Mr. Speaker
At Ten o'clock the original Question for the Adjournment 471 lapses and does not exist. There is then no Question for me to put. There has to be a Question before the House, and the Adjournment has to be moved again.
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.— [Mr. Bryan.]

§ Mr. Rankin
While London, according to the B.B.C., was incapable of handling aircraft, Prestwick was still taking them from wherever they cared to come.

§ Mr. Emrys Hughes
Is my hon. Friend aware that the staff at Prestwick had to deal with an almost unparalleled emergency and stuck to their jobs for thirtysix hours? Do not they deserve the thanks of this House for that?

§ Mr. Rankin
I was coming to that point. As a result of that diversion of aircraft Prestwick faced a tremendous task. And it is compelled to face that task because the Government are not spending sufficient money in its development.
I have here a copy of the front page of the Evening Citizen for Friday, 5th December—the evening to which I refer. The headline, in reference to the fact that fog had closed London Airport, is, "Prestwick takes 'em". On the front page is a picture of giant airliners which have been diverted to Prestwick, lined up on the runway. There are four Britannias and a Boeing 707 jet aircraft. Prestwick had to call up members of its staff who had left their jobs and had finished for the night and had been enjoying their leisure. They returned willingly to work in order to see that this great service went on without interruption. While London was fogbound Prestwick basked in bright wintry sunshine. The airline officials there wiped their brows, smiled and said, "Well, we have done it again." Surely that is a great tribute to this United Kingdom airport.
Members often think that this is a Scottish problem, but last week, as has been demonstrated time and time again in the winter months, when a pall of fog covered not only the North of England but the whole of the South of England and part of the Midlands—Manchester 472 was out of service, as were the other airports in the South of England—Prestwick continued to function and to handle traffic.
This is important in relation to what we have been talking about tonight, because the air is the great medium of speedy transport today, especially for statesmen. If they are to deal with the events which have been so graphically described by my hon. Friend the Member for South Ayrshire (Mr. Emrys Hughes) they must move speedily. One of our Governors-General—Lord Alexander— was affected by this diversion. He was coming to London, but he could only get here via Prestwick. It is an important point. We should see that we have at least one airport in the United Kingdom which is properly equipped to handle an emergency, which unfortunately for us occurs frequently.
What are we doing? Today I asked the Minister to tell me what sum had been spent on the development of aerodromes administered by his Department in Scotland and England, respectively. He told me that the sum expended on the development of Scottish airports was £3.7 million and on English airports £34.5 million. We used to operate a formula called the Goschen formula, which the present Government have rejected. But were that formula applied to this expenditure it would be seen that Scotland is not getting a fair share. I do not object to £34.5 million being spent on English airports, but in view of the importance of Prestwick to the United Kingdom, I say that we are spending far too little on developing that airport. Prestwick does not get the £3.7 million; that is the sum spent on all the airports in Scotland, of which Prestwick will get only £2.2 million. For weeks now I have been urging that such a sum is far too small, and once again the climate of this country has proved the truth of my words.
As we viewed those passengers leaving Euston last Thursday night, I wondered what happened to them when they got to Prestwick. Surely we should think of the comfort of those people who represented trade for this country, who were bringing foreign currency—mostly dollars —which we need. What do we do with them when they get to Prestwick? The hotel accommodation there is completely 473 inadequate. It is not the type of accommodation we should be providing for visitors to this country. We want modern hotel accommodation at Prestwick, and we have not got it. The present accommodation is quite inadequate.
I asked the Minister whether any decision had been reached by the Government about accommodation to be provided in the proposed new hotel at Prestwick Airport and whether he had any idea of the cost. He said he recognised that a hotel could be an attractive feature of the new terminal area and the possibility of providing one was being examined. When shall we get a decision on this matter? When shall we know what will be the size of the hotel and whether it will be capable of accommodating traffic which has at times to be diverted to Prestwick from London Airport? These are urgent matters, and by this time the Government should have got beyond the stage of mere examination and should have come to a decision.
I urge upon the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation in absentia that he devote his mind to this problem. We know that the runway to receive these aircraft is now secure. But something as important as the runway is at stake. We look to a great and increasing tourist traffic for this country. If Scotland secures that traffic, it expects to handle about £100 million of it in the near future. if we invite those visitors we must give them quick transport. The air is the new medium of bringing people to this country. When we can secure that, we must then look for the accommodation, especially in a situation like that which happened last week at London Airport.
I hope that my words—I will try to see to this personally—will go to the Minister's ears and that in due course we shall find not merely an examination of what should be done at Prestwick but a decision on what the Government propose to do to keep this great, United Kingdom airport in line with the times in which we live.