Prospect concerned by centralising air traffic control plan

Dundee is one of the seven airports in the proposal

A union representing air traffic controllers has raised concerns about plans to centralise air traffic control for seven Scottish regional airports.

Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (Hial) is considering investing up to £28m in a remote air traffic control system modelled on one used in Sweden.

Trade union Prospect said it understood Hial had to modernise its infrastructure.

But it said centralisation could impact on safety and lead to job losses.

Hial's managing director, Inglis Lyon, said no changes would happen if its regulator was not content they were safe to make, and the total number of jobs would remain the same.

The plan involves airports at Inverness, Sumburgh, Dundee, Wick John O'Groats, Kirkwall, Stornoway and Benbecula.

Unmanned towers at the sites would feed information to a central hub.

'People's safety'

Prospect's aviation officer in Scotland David Avery said the union was still examining the detail of Hial's proposal.

He said: "Prospect will engage with Hial to consider the potential impact of any change on staff and protect members jobs.

"As a union we understand that Hial has a significant challenge in recruiting and retaining controllers, but we see nothing in the report which we believe will address the cause of the issue, which is much more related to pay and conditions."

Mr Avery added: "Prospect supports Hial's need to modernise its infrastructure to keep up pace with regulations and that this will require significant investment.

"However, any centralised monitoring system will be dependent on a reliable, resilient and secure communications infrastructure between the mainland and the island which simply does not exist. HIAL are gambling on this, and Prospect believes this is gambling with people's safety."

Mr Lyon told BBC Radio Scotland: "What we are trying to provide is sustainable air traffic control, which means the airports and the connections to the airports from the mainland will be sustainable in the future."

'Decentralise jobs'

The proposal, including its safety case, was being fully evaluated, said Mr Lyon.

He added: "Anything we do will have to go through a very stringent regulatory process."

Scottish Green Party Highlands and Islands MSP, John Finnie, said he understood both Hial's need to modernise and Prospect's concerns.

He suggested the work could be "decentralised" and done from the Western Isles and, or, the Northern Isles.

Mr Finnie also said Hial would have to ensure the safety of flights of nuclear material from Wick John O'Groats Airport to the US.

The material is being transferred from the Dounreay nuclear site near Thurso.