There is no “quick fix” to improving UK airport capacity, MPs and airline bosses admitted at an industry forum organised by the Guild of Travel Management Companies.
Parliamentarians and industry representatives “recognised that while a constraint on capacity would limit competitiveness there was no quick fix for this at the moment,” the GTMC said. “Rather, there were clear areas around taxation, emissions trading, visa costs and airport function where short-term boosts could be given to UK business if the political will was there.”
One of the first decisions made by the coalition government after last year’s election was to overturn plans to expand Heathrow. The international hub was described as competitive in terms of destinations and frequency of flights to established global financial centres but it was increasingly poorly placed for the emerging economies that would be driving global economic growth in the coming years.
Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Madrid are all leaving Heathrow behind when it comes to routes into China, Brazil and Russia. The GTMC half-day aviation forum set up with MP Kwasi Kwarteng was attended by Conservative MPs and representatives from British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and BAA.
The forum was seen as the first step in bringing MPs up to speed with the pressures and logistics of the aviation industry and also gave the trade the opportunity to have their voice heard as a united body. There was also recognition that the industry as a whole needed to be better co-ordinated in the message it gives to policy-makers.
GTMC chief executive Anne Godfrey said: “The GTMC has long felt that the debate around aviation was lacking nuance and that the polarised camps we saw in the media did not reflect the feelings of business travellers.
“I think most people recognise that the reality is not simply ‘flying equals bad’ but that the industry contributes a huge amount to UK plc while also having serious environmental obligations.
“The forum set up with Kwasi Kwarteng is a first step in giving Parliamentarians a real insight into how this important but complex industry works, how the UK’s competitiveness is wrapped up with our connectivity and the areas of policy where it needs government assistance.
“Equally, Kwasi and his colleagues pushed hard at the areas where the industry needs to improve its communication with policy-makers and where we can help them. This is exactly the type of grown-up engagement we need.”