A project to centralise Air Traffic Control of five Scottish airports has been put on hold, the Scottish Government has confirmed.
The plan included Dundee airport and would have meant that control of aircraft would have been run from a single central hub in Inverness.
The other airports included Inverness, Kirkwall, Stornoway and Sumburgh.
However the tendering process to buy the specialist remote control towers has been temporarily halted while stakeholders are consulted over future plans.
Under the plan - proposed by Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (Hial) - unmanned towers would have fed information to the hub, located in an office building in an Inverness industrial estate.
The scheme was opposed by the union Prospect and in October Hial announced it was halting the project to develop a new plan.
Air traffic controllers staged industrial action as part of the dispute opposing the project that began in January 2020.
Last week Graeme Dey, the Transport Minister, confirmed the cancellation of the tendering process in answers to questions from Orkney Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur.
He said Hial had contacted companies in October to inform them of the decisionand revealed the cost of the modernisation project up to the end of November last year was £9m.
A Hial spokesman said its project had offered the "best option" to maintaining the long-term sustainability of air services for the Highlands and islands.
They added: “We contacted the companies involved in the remote tower procurement in October to confirm that the tender exercise had been halted.
"We considered it would be inappropriate and unfair to expect tenderers to remain engaged in the procurement process given the circumstances where the timescale, scope and extent of possible future remote air traffic provision is yet to be agreed by all key stakeholders.
“As and when we have outcomes from ongoing discussions with our air traffic colleagues and the trade union we will assess our future requirements to help deliver sustainable air services to the communities we serve.
“We have been clear that ATMS is the best option to maintain the long-term sustainability of air services for the Highlands and Islands. Nevertheless, we are committed to working with Prospect and our air traffic control colleagues to try and develop a new solution involving compromise by both sides.
“We would encourage those with an interest in ensuring the delivery of a safe, resilient, and sustainable air traffic operation for island communities to recognise the delicate nature of these negotiations and engage in constructive dialogue to reach that end.”
Get the latest DundeeLive news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for our daily news updates.
