Government urged to back all UK’s airports in push for growth

Ed Anderson, the chairman of the Airport Operators’ Association (AOA), said that the Government must look beyond London and the South East as it tries to make better use of capacity.

Speaking at the 2015 UK Aviation Conference in London, Mr Anderson said the AOA “seek a clear, integrated way forward for all UK airports that includes a presumption in the planning regime in favour of sustainable development”.

Where appropriate, the AOA wants funds to be made available for some of the surface access improvement schemes that will support this growth, Mr Anderson added.

Mr Anderson, who was managing director of Leeds-Bradford Airport from 1997 to 2007, said: “Airspace change is also crucial to making better use of existing capacity, and we await with interest the Department for Transport’s consultation expected early next year. Today’s airspace was designed over 40 years ago and in that time the number of passengers using it has increased by 185 million per year.

“Existing airspace structures will not provide sufficient capacity to accommodate forecast growth, without causing delays and a reduction in overall efficiency.”

CBI president Paul Drechsler said that a Government commitment to building a new runway in the South East will give an enormous boost to apprenticeships right across the country.

Speaking at the Airport Operators’ Association Conference, Mr Drechsler said: “Every day, month and year we delay building a new runway has a price – in lost trade.

“But a new runway doesn’t just help businessmen and women close deals in faraway lands. It’s about jobs and growth for people and firms right across the United Kingdom. To provide the skilled workers, makers and exporters of tomorrow though, we need to push for brave, political leadership today.”