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New Red Arrows jets could be built at Prestwick Airport

Getty Images Two Red Arrow planes flying diagonally upwards in opposite directions. They are marked with a white Royal Air Force sign and a Union jack. The plane flying to the right has a trail of red smoke while the one flying to the left has a trail of blue smokeGetty Images

The next generation of Red Arrows jets could be built at Prestwick Airport.

Aviation company Aeralis is in partnership talks with the Scottish government-owned airport, which is its preferred site for the assembly of its aircraft.

It is the only firm in the UK that is designing and building a manned light jet aircraft, which could equip the Royal Air Force's display team or be sold for export.

The Red Arrows currently fly Hawk T1 jets that are due to be retired in 2030.

Aeralis said components for the replacement jets would be built around the UK before being assembled at Prestwick, where the aircraft would take their first flight.

The airport was bought by the Scottish government for £1 in 2013, though officials hope to sell it back to the private sector.

Ian Forgie, chief executive of Prestwick Airport, said: "We are tremendously excited about this agreement with Aeralis and the opportunity it brings to generate jobs, apprenticeships, investment and innovation in the Prestwick area.

"We look forward to working with Aeralis to make this happen."

Speculation about the deal first emerged in the Ayrshire Daily News last month, though at the time Aeralis declined to confirm their preferred site when asked by the BBC.

On Friday, the company's chief executive Tristan Crawford said Prestwick "represented an ideal site" for the company's UK final assembly line.

He said: "The airport has a strong aviation legacy particularly in whole aircraft manufacture, as well as excellent local aerospace manufacturing and MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul) resources, and an operating model well-suited to supporting new aerospace programmes.

"This will provide Aeralis with tremendous operating capability for building, testing and industrialising the new aircraft, meaning Prestwick is the perfect choice for Aeralis."

The company said it awaits UK government commitment to the aircraft in order to move forward with its plans, which it said "will clearly return Scotland to its deserved place as a first-tier aviation nation".