INVERKEITHING and Dalgety Bay councillor Dave Dempsey has called on MPs to make sure West Fifers’ views on proposals to change Edinburgh Airport’s flight paths are listened to.

Airport bosses submitted their proposals to the Civil Aviation Authority last week but Cllr Dempsey believes many questions remain unanswered.

“While there are minor improvements around restricted hours on some paths and a year’s delay on others, the proposals are largely as they were and the public’s main concerns remain unanswered,” he said.

“In particular, we don’t know what it’s going to really be like living under these extra flights and, should it be as grim as some fear, we have no idea what might be done afterwards in mitigation.

“However, we do know that the decision lies with the CAA, that the CAA was set up by, and answers to, the UK Government and that our representatives are our newly re-elected MPs.

“So we’re calling on our local MPs to step up to the plate and ensure that the CAA takes full account of the comments and concerns of their constituents, including making sure that any post-implementation review has the teeth to make the necessary corrections.”

After two rounds of public consultation, the proposals, which, airport bosses say, were altered as a result of feedback received, were submitted to the CAA. 

When submitting their document, chief executive Gordon Dewar said the listening exercise had been “crucial” to their thinking.

"We are now favouring a phased approach based on the premise that we should only use any new routes when they are required, and that we should explain very clearly when that is and why.

"We believe this application will deliver future economic growth for Edinburgh and Scotland, and strikes the best possible balance between those benefits and our communities’ requirements, our operational requirements and the requirements of our regulator, the CAA.”

Edinburgh Airport this week announced that July had been its busiest month on record and the busiest ever month at a Scottish airport.

A total of 1,413,272 passengers passed through the terminal which was up 6.1 per cent on the 1,332,282 passengers who travelled through the terminal in July last year.

Inverkeithing High School benefitted from a funding boost after the airport’s community board announced that 20 groups from across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife would benefit from a share of almost £40,000.

Since being established in 2012, the board has allocated nearly £640,000 of grants to charities and community organisations.