Question reference: S6W-06650
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 23 February 2022
-
Current status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 March 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-30445 by Michael Matheson on 5 August 2020, whether it will provide an update on its position regarding whether the number of short-haul flights across the UK should be increased.
Answer
Our geography means that air travel plays an important role in providing connectivity within Scotland and to other parts of the UK. It is particularly important to our island communities, enabling access to services and helping deliver our National Islands Plan. In addition, on some domestic routes, flying is a lower emission option than the quickest alternative.
Hydrogen/electric aircraft have the potential to significantly reduce the environmental impact of domestic aviation and as part of our work to develop an Aviation Strategy we asked for views on how we can best work in partnership with industry to have low/zero-emission domestic air services which meet the needs of communities and help deliver sustainable economic growth. We are now in the process of analysing responses.