It has been great to see some good news in the last month for two key assets owned by the Scottish Government.

For one, the latest win continued a steady stream of good news. In the case of the other, which has faced a more turbulent time of late, the positive news was an important boost.

Prestwick Airport, owned by the Scottish Government since 2013, has enjoyed a flurry of good news. Last month it unveiled another major success when it announced British aircraft manufacturer AERALIS had selected Prestwick Airport as the location for the final assembly of its UK aircraft.

My column last month for The Herald on this win observed: “As well as offering the prospect of a significant number of jobs of high quality, like the thousands already at the aerospace cluster in and around Prestwick Airport, the news from AERALIS also grabbed the attention because of the Red Arrows (Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team) dimension.

“AERALIS notes it is ‘the only British programme designing and building a light jet aircraft to deliver a replacement for the Red Arrows and for a lucrative international export market’.”

Prestwick Airport has recently announced agreements with Air China Cargo and China Southern Air Logistics relating to the operation of freighter services between Guangzhou and Prestwick. China Southern began operating four flights a week from Guangzhou to Prestwick on May 16. And, on June 2, Air China Cargo started operating three flights a week.

The column concluded: “It is very pleasing to see a patient, long-term approach at Prestwick Airport bearing fruit, with the huge amount of good news in recent months. We should be very grateful indeed that Prestwick Airport was rescued for many reasons – notably including the economic contribution of the........

© Herald Scotland