The Conservative candidate for the Scottish Parliament elections has distanced himself from a councillor’s view that Prestwick Airport should close.

In a press release in which he said he had been pressed upon to make comments about the airport as well as air passenger duty, Jamie Greene suggested that ‘disaster relief’ was an opportunity for the airport, along with cargo, training and private aviation.

During the discussion on Radio Scotland’s The Big Debate, Councillor Tom Marshall said the airport was ‘bleeding flights’ and that Glasgow Airport was aggrieved at the funding for Prestwick as a competitor to Glasgow. When pressed, he agreed that the airport should close.

Mr Greene said: “I spoke to Tom and he said he made it clear that the view he shared in Radio Scotland’s “Big Debate” last week on the long term viability of Prestwick, when pressed to answer, was entirely a personal one and that he was speaking neither on behalf of the party nor the Glasgow Airport Consultative Committee.

“He spoke to me about his concerns that State intervention has cost the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds to date since the Scottish Government bought it for £1. A fact we cannot deny or refute. This is in line with previous Scottish Conservative comments that the SNP needs to implement a viable business model for the airport, not endlessly plough taxpayers’ money into it ad infinitum, with the long term goal to be to offload it back into private hands.” He added: “I see the importance of Prestwick Airport, the local jobs it creates and the potential for tourism that benefits Ayrshire and the West of Scotland. I think there is potential for Prestwick in the long term and that may require an element of patience before the investment starts to see positive return.

“It is disappointing that it is not handling more commercial flights but there are immediate opportunities for cargo, disaster relief, training and private aviation which could be developed further.

“At the same time, there needs to be proper management in place and a ‘go-to-market’ strategy that will help Prestwick stand on its own two feet and attract further airlines to it. I also think the opportunity for it be used as a spaceport are very exciting and should be progressed.

“I would support the Scottish Government on that. I take on-board Tom’s point though, I would like to see a clear strategy and definitive plans for progress to be made at Prestwick to justify the public money going into it. If they can do that then they have my support.” Mr Greene said he had been pressed for his views on air passenger duty, ‘which is due to be devolved to Holyrood further to agreements made after the independence referendum one year ago’.

He added: “If the Scottish Government in Holyrood is able to use this devolved power to reduce the cost of travel and attract new business to our airports then I think that’s good news, especially if it increases traffic through our airports, Prestwick included.

“I just hope the SNP don’t jeopardise this further devolution by seeking to derail the Scotland Bill in Westminster”.