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Source: Scotsman

ALASTAIR DALTON
TRANSPORT CORRESPONDENT

STEVEN Fitzgerald is wasting no time in making his mark on
Scotland’s fastest-growing airport - and dispelling Prestwick’s
image problem is one of its new head’s main priorities.

The high-flying former Sydney airport chief, who has just landed at
the Ayrshire base, is determined to shatter perceptions about
Prestwick as outdated and inaccessible.

In his first interview since taking over two weeks ago, Fitzgerald
said the terminal’s £3 million facelift would give it a "slick,
contemporary" look, while the forthcoming completion of the M77 and
a planned new express coach link with Edinburgh would bring the
airport closer to passengers.

He predicted both continued strong growth by Ryanair, which accounts
for 95 per cent of passengers, and a turnaround in Prestwick’s
freight fortunes - if it can prove to be a more efficient UK hub
than the London airports.

But Fitzgerald’s chief executive title doesn’t just refer to
Prestwick - it also puts him in charge of Infratil Airport Holdings,
the New Zealand parent company’s vehicle for European expansion.

The firm sees Prestwick as a springboard towards a portfolio of
continental airports, with the first acquisition, which could be
Finow, near Berlin, expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Fitzgerald, 36, said he had left his role as operations chief at
Australia’s largest airport for the promise of dynamic opportunities
at Prestwick.

He told The Scotsman: "Sydney is a large, excellent airport, but
essentially it is a mature business that does not have the
competitive pressures or growth potential of Prestwick."

While Sydney is expected to grow by 6-8 per cent to 29 million
passengers this year, Prestwick has been expanding at up to 34 per
cent over the past year to 2.2 million passengers.

Fitzgerald said: "It was the fundamentals at Prestwick that
attracted me - very good base infrastructure, airlines with
investment in maintenance facilities, and an ideal location for
low-cost operations, which is a high-growth area that is here to
stay."

He said infrastructure benefits included a runway that required no
major overhaul and could accommodate the largest aircraft, and
24-hour operation.

Freight-carrier Polar and no-frills passenger airline Ryanair had
shown their commitment with maintenance hangers for Boeing 747s and
737-800s respectively, he said.

Fitzgerald said the passenger terminal "retained some of its 1960s
charm", which has even earned it an accolade for retro chic, but
flights did not operate from the "cheaply-built temporary
facilities" of some airports.

However, he is keenly aware he will need to "break through some
stereotypes" about Prestwick as it enters its 70th year as an air
base.

He said: "It’s our task to knock on doors and wake people up to the
opportunities at Prestwick."

"We are not a distant airport from a major city, and when the M77 is
completed we will be 25 minutes from Glasgow - closer than Glasgow
airport for many people in the city.

Fitzgerald also wants to bring Edinburgh closer to Prestwick with
plans for a direct coach link that would both attract more
east-coast passengers and enable tourists to more easily reach the
capital. He said: "If they want to see Edinburgh Castle as soon as
they step off the plane, we should be providing that service.

"Another stereotype, that the terminal is ‘not modern’, is a truism.
We are physically changing that and we need to be telling people we
have changed - and getting people to see we have changed."

The £3m refurbishment currently underway was ordered by Infratil
following a director’s observation last year about its "shambolic"
state - a reference to tatty temporary retail units.

Three new shops will be added to the concourse by mid-summer
following the completion next month of a major revamp of the
check-in area and replacement of its faded carpet with ceramic
tiles. The departure lounge will also be extended with extra shops.

The transformation is vital not just to update Prestwick’s image but
to increase revenue from passengers following the airport’s failure
to reap the benefits of the huge influx generated by Ryanair’s
fast-growing European route network that has made the airport its
fourth most important hub.

Fitzgerald accepts that the Irish carrier will continue to pay next
to nothing for using Prestwick, so the impetus is on the airport to
boost income by maximising passenger spending while they await their
flights.

However, he claimed that Ryanair’s success at Prestwick - with new
routes to Hamburg, Pisa and southern Spain being launched in ten
days’ time - demonstrated what was possible rather than creating a
barrier to attracting other airlines.

Fitzgerald will seek to add new domestic and east European routes,
while the start of weekly scheduled flights to Barbados next month
could encourage further year-round transatlantic services.

He said: "Being a low-cost airport does not mean we cannot provide a
full range of services. We do not have business lounges and air
bridges at present, but if there was demand we would have the
infrastructure and space required."

Freight traffic took a hit last year because of a downturn in the
Scottish electronics industry, but Fitzgerald is optimistic about
Prestwick’s potential as a hub for the rest of Britain.

He said hauliers had found it was faster and cheaper to land
transatlantic cargo at Prestwick and truck it London than face the
congestion in and around airports in the south.

He said: "That gives us some confidence - to serve the Scottish
market and increasingly England, Ireland and Wales too. I’m cautious
about predicting large upswings in the short term, but there is
definitely potential for an increase. Dedicated freight hubs have a
strong future."

Fitzgerald, who moved from the humid heat of Sydney to windswept
Troon with his wife Aniva and their young son Nicholas last month,
predicted a rosy outlook both at home and work. He said: "The
temperature is different, but coming from the middle of summer to
the middle of winter means at least it gets warmer from here - or so
I’m told."
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