Prestwick to lose rescue base as HMS Gannet services move to Glasgow
10 FebruaryThe Soteria Consortium has been announced as the preferred bidder to provide search and rescue services using a new fleet of Sikorsky S92 helicopters to replace the ageing Royal Navy Sea Kings which are currently operated out of 12 bases by the Ministry of Defence and the coastguard.
It has been revealed that the consortium plans to move the search and rescue facilities from HMS Gannet at Prestwick Airport to Glasgow Airport when it takes over the contract in 2012.
More than 100 staff are currently based at HMS Gannet and it is likely that any search and rescue jobs will be transferred to the new base under the contract, which is worth £6bn over 25 years.
HMS Gannet has been based at Prestwick since 1971, and covers an area of almost 100,000 square miles, from Ben Nevis in the north to the Lake District in the south, and from Edinburgh in the east to 200 miles off the coast of Northern Ireland.
You can read more on this story here on the Herald website.
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