THE boss of Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) and the area’s MP have issued an open invitation to Department for Transport (DfT) officials to visit the “vital and vibrant” north of Scotland as they undertake a national review of aviation strategy.

Inglis Lyon and SNP MP Drew Hendry have called on members of the DfT task force to see for themselves the crucial role HIAL’s airports have in sustaining and growing the Highland communities and their economies. The DfT has started work on developing a new UK aviation strategy to help shape the future of the industry to 2050 and beyond.

HIAL worked with HITRANS Regional Transport Partnership and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to deliver a joint submission to the DfT’s UK Aviation Strategy Review earlier this month.

The strategy also aims to review the challenges facing the sector as the UK Government sets out its long-term direction for aviation policy.

“We are issuing an open invitation to the UK Government advisers to visit us to obtain a much better understanding of the region, our businesses and our communities,” said Lyon. “We wish to see a strategy that maximises benefit to the good of all regions. This should ensure enhanced and protected links from Inverness to the UK’s main hub, London Heathrow, both over the short term and particularly when it is expanded.”

Hendry – the member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey – said: “Regional airports are not only an important economic driver in our region, they also play a key role in tackling social exclusion, especially in the more remote parts of the Highlands and Islands. We believe the DfT team would benefit from getting a better understanding of air connectivity in the region and the risks associated with the economic fragility of services. I very much hope that they take us up on this offer.”

HIAL has seen another summer of rising passenger numbers at its 11 airports across Scotland, with more than a million customers between April and September. The company said the key issue for the north was to seek action from the UK Government to address the connectivity needs of the region to support sustainable economic growth.

Securing and ring-fencing slots into an expanded Heathrow for the most peripheral UK regions, particularly those that have slow or limiting transport alternatives to access a full range of international connections, is HIAL’s priority, and specifically for Inverness Airport.

Lyon said: “We believe there is a strong case for Inverness (as the key centre for the Highlands and Islands) to be prioritised for access to the UK’s main hub at Heathrow Airport when it expands.”

Inverness is currently witnessing the longest sustained period of growth in the airport’s 77-year history and in July, recorded its highest monthly passenger figures since it opened – with more than 93,000 people using the terminal.

“The air services which HIAL attracts and maintains at its airports support local communities to be more competitive and give access to, and delivery of, services world-wide,” said Lyon. “The north of Scotland has a relatively small population, remote by road or rail from the rest of the UK and from ‘core’ European markets. Nonetheless it has a number of high-value sectors that are very international and export orientated and has outstanding potential to increase inbound tourism.”

Hendry added: “The priority should be to support a wider agenda for an aviation system that will facilitate business, inward investment, tourism and support economic and social inclusion.”