Old air terminal would have hindered growth - GSD

The Government would not have been able to run the record number of flights from the old airport terminal, the GSD has said.

This comes as the row over whether the new terminal has contributed to flight increases continued yesterday.

In a statement the GSD said it agrees with the Gibraltar Government that a new terminal alone is not enough to attract visitors.

However, the GSD added: “It is the platform from which Gibraltar can expand the tourist sector and therefore contributes to the overall picture.”

“It’s comical to note that we are being heckled over a terminal building we can all be proud of by a Government who are loaning £40m to a floating hotel.”

GSD MP Lawrence Llamas said: “It's actually funny to note the Minister accusing the GSD about lack of vision. I still fail to see how the GSLP’s own vision would be one where the enhancement of a product does not go hand in hand with an infrastructure that is ready to cope with such expansion.”

“I have no problem in giving credit when credit is due, something which I wish to encourage Government to do, what is unacceptable is to discredit and issue misleading statements.”

“It’s simple, would Government have been able to run the record number of flights from the old terminal? The answer has to be no,” he said.

“The elephant in the room is that Government claim tourism to be one of their priorities, but yet there are no manifesto policies to attract tourists and encourage visitors to return, I'd encourage Government to take up our policies sooner rather than later,” the statement read.

PHOTO BY DAVID PARODY https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidparody