Highlands and Islands Airports limited run eleven of the smallest airports in the UK, in the Islands way up in the North of Scotland. They have a £1.1m hole in their budget and they are proposing to fix this by charging £3 a day for parking at some of their airports. The response to proposals to charge at Stornoway on Lewis from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar the local council is to propose to build a park and ride site presumably to compete with the airport. Now local councillors have condemned the airport's plans saying that it "would unfairly target local residents and businesses". Well Duh! You're on an island, who else is going to be parking at the airport except locals? Council leader Angus Campbell said the council should investigate a park and ride scheme with a shuttle bus, powered by renewable energy. OK; so the aforesaid council, which has just gone through a cost cutting exercise itself is going to spend magic money to stop the nasty airport charging to use a facility that only some of its travellers use. Inevitably if this happens the airport will cover the gap some other way; perhaps by charging the airlines higher fees that go on everyone's ticket, plus of course some extra admin costs. Doh! By the way did I mention that there was an election coming? Cynical Moi?
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