Our man from the Ministry questions the Coalition’s aviation policy

"The Farnborough Airshow 2010 gets underway on the 19th July and the inevitable focus will be on announcements of new jet orders for Airbus and Boeing.

Coalition Government Ministers will no doubt make approving comments about the deals, take credit for them and lament the orders that were lost to overseas manufacturers.

Important as these aircraft orders are for aerospace jobs in the UK and beyond, they represent only one, albeit significant part, of aviation’s contribution to our economic prosperity and wellbeing, both now and in the future.

Philip Hammond, the new Transport Secretary, acknowledges the contribution the aviation sector makes to the economy, but saving the environment appears to be his top priority.

Lets hope he surprises us, but the signs are ominous. He advocates an aviation policy favouring competition, but the overriding objective appears to be one of ‘restraint’. An apt definition of such a policy might be ‘Killing the goose that lays the golden egg’.

British airports are a genuine success story which should be praised and encouraged. There is no shortage of willing investors.

Liverpool John Lennon Airport is one of a number of UK airports owned by the Peel Group who last month sold a 65% controlling stake for £110.5m to Vancouver Airport Services. Expansion of transatlantic routes is high on Liverpool Airport’s agenda.

Bristol Airport is fortunate too. It has already been given expansion approval, albeit subject to 70 conditions. Similarly, Southend has been given the go ahead to expand. These small developments nevertheless offer the ability to create new wealth and prosperity.

Farnborough Airport, in Hampshire, represents in microcosm the dilemma Ministers face. Despite being the UK’s premier business jet airport, Farnborough’s future development and growth prospects hang in the balance.

The outcome of the recently concluded Public Enquiry over proposals to expand operations from its runway from 28,000 to 50,000 per year is anxiously awaited. It is not alone.

The expansion of Belfast City Airport has gone to a Public Enquiry, so like Farnborough, it’s economic development and the contribution it can make to our prosperity has been placed in doubt. So too has the expansion plans of Lydd Airport in Kent, which despite being accepted, have now been called in by the Government.

Meanwhile, as our economy teeters on the brink of a double dip recession, our elected politicians have kicked any immediate action on major airport expansion into the long grass. Yet it is these crucial developments that will genuinely impact our economic prospects for generations to come.

Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted have all had to halt their expansion plans following the announcement by the Coalition Government that they would reject new runways at all three.
In place of a coherent development plan for airport capacity enabling the continued expansion of major (as opposed to minor) airport development, we have a newly formed committee, ‘the South East Airports Task Force’, to pontificate on the future direction of Government Policy, whilst witnessing from the side lines the curtailment of an industry which is undervalued and inadequately supported, in favour of a green agenda that seeks reduced air travel by all means possible including taxing it out of existence.

The UK Coalition Government is in danger of fundamentally undermining one of the great UK success stories of the 20th Century. Lord King must be turning in his grave!

Contrast the current Government’s approach with that of Russian Prime Minister Putin who very clearly and unequivocally sees the true economic benefits of airport development. He has personally just hosted a major conference on the reconstruction of Russia’s Airports.

Consider too that the Indian State of Gujarat will alone get 11 major new airports to facilitate access to pilgrimage sites and to foster tourism.

Prioritising of environmental issues above the national economic interest in the UK is a serious threat to both our short and longer term economic wellbeing. It needs to be urgently reviewed and replaced by a pro aviation and airport development strategy.

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