Plans to limit start up-aid for new air passenger routes have come under attack in the north.
Highlands and Islands Airports (Hial) said they were a “missed opportunity” to deliver meaningful support for the aviation industry in Scotland.
The European Commission (EC) is consulting on new guidelines on state aid to airports and airlines. It includes support for route development for airports with fewer than three million passengers a year, due to come into force in 2014.
Under the proposals, funding will be offered to airlines launching new routes or increasing services on existing ones.
The support, aimed at encouraging growth in the European aviation sector following the worst downturn in its history, will cover 50% of start-up costs for a maximum of two years.
After this new routes are expected to become profitable.
Publicly owned Hial, operator of 10 airports across the Highlands and islands and one in Dundee, said it welcomed the ECs move to refresh its guidelines for state aid to airlines and airports. But it added: “The proposals, in their current form, represent a missed opportunity to support an industry which sustains tens of thousands of jobs across Scotland, encourages business investment and economic growth and delivers lifeline services to some of the most remote areas of Europe.
“In particular, we do not believe the proposals reflect the distinct challenges facing small, regional airports in Scotland and would urge the EC to reconsider its proposal to limit start up aid to airlines to two years.
“From experience we know that this is an insufficient period to allow a new route to become profitable, particularly in the current economic climate, and especially in the context of small regional airports.”
Hial managing director Inglis Lyon has offered to meet EC officials to discuss the challenges facing regional airport operators.
“The one size fits all approach advocated by the EC is simply unworkable and will disadvantage smaller regional airports,” he said.
“Limiting support to two years is short-termism at its worst and will not deliver a sustainable economic return.