New airport capacity needed for economic growth

Aviation plays a vital role in a modern, integrated transport system and is a critical component of the UK's transport infrastructure. As a sector, aviation represents around 1.5 per cent of the UK economy and provides jobs directly and indirectly for almost a million people. Aviation plays an essential part in supporting the service sector and manufacturing, both of which require reliable and comprehensive access to global markets for people and goods. Aviation is vital for 'just in time', high value or perishable cargo such as microchips, mail and even flowers. Domestic aviation fulfils a crucial function in connecting remoter regions and destinations with each other where many routes either 'cross over water' or link regions of the UK that are unlikely to be part of any feasible high speed rail network.

The coalition government has yet to adopt an aviation policy. Instead, it has scrapped the decision to expand Heathrow and issued a blanket ban on new runways at the three busiest existing London airports. BATA believes this is wrong. A thriving hub airport is vital to the future prosperity of the UK and new airport capacity should be provided where it is required subject to appropriate environmental safeguards. There are limited options for modal shift from international aviation – and no realistic ones for maintaining and developing links with the emerging BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) economies. Heathrow compares badly with our competitors in terms of access to these markets due to capacity constraints and has just three passenger routes to China – the same number as Helsinki. By comparison, Frankfurt has seven and is far better placed to benefit from future growth, new business opportunities and new jobs.

The prime minister acknowledges that tourism is the UK's third largest export earner and wants to grow our share of world tourism to help Britain recover from economic crisis. But revised aviation forecasts recently issued by the government make unrealistic assumptions that many tourists travelling to and from Britain will instead, in future choose to travel by non-existent high speed train or, presumably, not to travel at all to destinations such as the Spanish or Greek Islands.

Last year, London was the only region of the UK to see visits by overseas residents increase. By restricting much needed new airport capacity in the south east, we will not necessarily see business and tourism go elsewhere in the UK. Instead, it may be deflected away from the UK altogether. BATA estimates that the reduction in growth shown in the revised aviation forecasts will cost the UK economy at least £10 billion over the next twenty years. With our economy flat on its back at the moment, we need a reduction in revenue to the UK of that magnitude as much as a hole in the head.