The government’s mid-term review has come under fire from the Airport Operators Association for failing to mention aviation in any detail.
The 46-page document makes only a single mention of aviation, despite talking in length about government plans to invest in infrastructure and modernise the UK’s transport system.
AOA chief executive Darren Caplan said: “We’re disappointed that this much-heralded review, which is intended to signpost what the government wants to achieve between now and 2015, makes so little mention of aviation.
“We’ve started to see the government talk more about the airports sector in recent months, and acknowledge the enormous contribution that it can make in terms of jobs, tax revenue and advancing the economic recovery.
“Therefore we were hopeful that some of the pressing issues facing our members, such as UK connectivity, airport taxation, and regulation would feature more prominently.”
He added: “We would urge the government to make 2013 the year that it addresses some of these issues.
“We welcome the publishing of the Aviation Policy Framework and Sir Howard Davies’ Airports Commission, which we believe represents a genuine opportunity to achieve cross-party consensus on ensuring the UK has vibrant point-to-point airport connectivity and sufficient world-class hub capacity.
“But we also think the government should be doing things to help UK airports right now, such as reducing Air Passenger Duty, speeding up the planning system for airport development, and getting to grips with overbearing levels of regulation.”