The government will do all it can to support aviation “and take the brakes off growth”, transport secretary Heidi Alexander told industry leaders on Tuesday night.
Addressing the Airlines UK annual dinner in London, Alexander insisted aviation “underpins the growth we want” and said: “The Chancellor has been clear – we’ll do all we can to support the sector and take the brakes off growth.
“It’s why we’ve approved London City Airport’s plans to expand to nine million passengers a year by 2031, and why we welcomed Stansted’s £1.1 billion investment to extend its terminal.”
She said: “There remain capacity problems, particularly in the southeast. Planning applications for Gatwick and Luton are on my desk and the government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer.”
Alexander promised “we’ll move at speed” once she receives Heathrow’s proposal.
She noted: “Some might say the debate about airport expansion highlights a tension between growing the economy while protecting the environment. [But] we must do both.”
The transport secretary argued: “We could pretend people don’t want to fly, pretend families aren’t dispersed across the globe, that they don’t work hard for and enjoy their summer holidays, pretend that businesses don’t have international clients and colleagues, that air freight isn’t a significant part of the UK’s trade, or that aviation isn’t critical to the economy.
“But we would be detaching ourselves from reality. Demand for air travel is only going in one direction.”
Alexander noted Civil Aviation Authority data confirms passenger numbers in 2024 were 7% up on the previous year and said: “Demand is up and if we don’t meet it, we’ll lose out to our European competitors and risk being on the wrong side of public aspirations.”
However, she warned: “This is in no way a blank cheque.
“My job as decision maker on these schemes will be to strike a balance between expansion’s potential benefits [for] jobs, trade and tourism with tough questions on whether this is compatible with our climate and air quality obligations, whether we can minimise noise and disruption to local communities, and how we make sure costs are shared fairly.
“These strict criteria must be met.”
However, Alexander suggested the industry stands on “the cusp of what could be the biggest transformation in its history” and said: “Now more than ever, you need a government that is a willing partner you can trust, whose electoral mandate provides stability and whose policy agenda provides certainty.”
She said every government decision would be “measured against the yardstick of growth”, adding: “I ask that you judge me and the government not on what we say but on the choices we make.
“Across the board, we’re choosing growth. That means running hell for leather towards greener and quieter flights.
“I have no intention of clipping anyone’s wings. I believe it’s incumbent on those in public life to give businesses the tools for success. That means more passengers and freight in the air, not less.
“But I’m equally clear that this must also mean less carbon, not more. That is why Sustainable Aviation Fuel [SAF] is so important.”
She told industry leaders: “We’ve listened to your concerns. You rightly said demand [for SAF] without supply will mean higher costs.
“By legislating for a [SAF] price guarantee, we’ll send a clear signal to investors [and] give certainty to producers looking to grow their UK production.”
Alexander suggested: “Decarbonising aviation could be worth billions to the economy and support thousands of jobs. It’s an important enabler to our industrial strategy.”
She insisted: “The government’s ‘Plan for Change’ depends on aviation’s success, on the economic value you bring, on the jobs you support, on the trade you facilitate. But that growth depends on us running as fast as we can towards cleaner aviation.”