Mike Kane
Main Page: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)Department Debates - View all Mike Kane's debates with the Department for Transport
(9 years, 9 months ago)
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Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Dorries. This is my first Westminster Hall debate, so I expect any interventions to be gentle.
Our aviation sector is an important success story for the UK. We have the second largest aircraft manufacturing industry in the world, after the USA. Aviation benefits the UK economy through its direct contribution to gross domestic product and employment and by facilitating trade and investment, manufacturing, supply chains, skills, development and tourism. In 2011, the aviation sector’s turnover was some £53 billion, and it generated £18 billion of economic output. As a sector, aviation provides more than 1 million jobs and supports more than 2.5 million jobs in the tourism sector. Two out of three companies say that the UK’s international transport connections are crucial for their future investment decisions. A recent CBI report stated that adding just one additional daily flight to each of the eight largest high-growth markets in the world could increase UK trade by as much as £1 billion a year.
Aviation also brings many wider benefits to society and individuals, including travel for leisure and visiting family and friends. More than 220 million passengers go through UK airports every year. UK airports are contributors to the economic development of the UK regions in their own right, but their importance goes much further. As well as being major employers and wealth creators, our local airports enable local businesses to grow and develop by providing international connections to global markets and enabling the rapid delivery of goods to market.
Although the UK might be a small country in global terms, we are currently one of the most globalised countries in the world. With centres of growth shifting eastwards, our reliance on international trade to drive prosperity and generate employment is set to become even greater. As well as supporting international trade, international connectivity helps to underpin inward investment: it is hard to imagine the likes of Google locating in my region, the north-west, without access to direct air links. If we are serious about rebalancing the UK economy and closing the productivity gap between the north and the south, international connectivity is vital.
Airports are key catalysts for economic growth and jobs, and they make a significant contribution to the success of the regions in which they operate. My constituency is home to Manchester airport and benefits greatly from its close links with that airport. In 2014, Manchester airport is the third largest UK airport and is more than twice the size of any other airport outside London. It generates some £620 million of gross value added for the north-west region and is a major employer, with 17,000 people employed on site; of those, 2,000 work for the airport and the rest are employed by on-site businesses such as airlines and handling agents. A further 40,000 jobs in the region depend on the airport’s business. There are big plans ahead for Manchester airport.
Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate for the north-west, which is a manufacturing region. He is making a worthwhile point about Manchester airport’s impact on the region, but there is a bigger question: should it seek to expand? Should it become a hub airport? Would that serve the region by driving economic prosperity and thereby rebalancing the British economy? Should we ask that question, rather than just allow Manchester airport to exist as an airport with a balance sheet? That is how it seems to be operating at the moment.
Mike Kane
Yes, of course Manchester airport should serve the north-west economy as a whole. I remember the story that the airport was created in 1935 by one vote—the mayor’s casting vote secured the decision to build outbuildings and a strip of runway at Ringway. When I was a young councillor, my hon. Friend the Member for Blackley and Broughton (Graham Stringer) was my council leader, and he introduced plans for the second runway, which cost £172 million. We have to continue to grow.
Alok Sharma (Reading West) (Con)
This is a timely debate given the discussions on expanding airport capacity generally. On international connectivity, I understand the need for more point-to-point flights from Manchester airport, but for hub capacity surely we ought to be expanding our only hub-capacity airport, which is Heathrow. That would lead to more connectivity, more jobs and more investment in the north-west.
Mike Kane
Currently, flights from Manchester airport mainly go point to point. There is an argument for hub status, but I think that argument must be much further down the line than it is today.
Airport City Manchester will introduce a new concept to the UK, delivering up to 5 million square feet of new highly connected business space over the next 10 years. It has already attracted Chinese investment—the Beijing Construction Engineering Group has at least a 20% stake—and is set to attract even more connections at Manchester airport, facilitating further trade and growth. Airport City will take Manchester airport beyond its traditional use as a regional airport hub and transform it into an international business destination in its own right, providing a major regeneration opportunity for the surrounding area and helping to boost Manchester’s attractiveness as a major European business city.
Sir Malcolm Bruce (Gordon) (LD)
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate. I completely understand the case he makes for Manchester being the most important airport outside London, but will he acknowledge that air links are vital to areas such as mine in Aberdeen, where the shortest journey time to London by train is more than seven hours? British Airways’ withdrawal of our only link to London City airport is an indication of an airline that puts profit before service, given that the route is profitable, just not as profitable as other routes.
Mike Kane
Will the right hon. Gentleman bear with me for a few more minutes? I know many people want to talk about their regional airport, which is the focus of this debate. I will specifically mention airports that are represented by Members on both sides of the Chamber, which might be the appropriate opportunity for Members to get on the record. This is not my maiden speech, but I would like to push on with Manchester airport for a few more minutes.
Airport City provides an innovative and complementary offer to the region’s economy; with Media City and the city centre, it creates a modern business destination that will make full use of the existing infrastructure. The majority of workers and visitors will not drive to the airport; instead, they will walk, cycle, take the newly constructed tram, which will soon be in operation, or take a train or plane. It is estimated that the wider Airport City enterprise zone will create up to 16,000 new jobs over the next 10 to 15 years, including at University Hospital South Manchester’s medipark development. Airport City is likely to attract new long-haul airline routes to Manchester to support and serve the requirements of the global businesses based on site, which will in turn bring further growth, employment and destination options. Coupled with the extension of the Metrolink by 2015, Airport City will open up the south Manchester area and make it even more accessible for local people, creating employment opportunities and transforming the local community.
What else can regional airports bring? Manchester has established strong relationships with foreign airlines and brought significant investment to the region. Emirates and Etihad have their European call centres in the north-west. Etihad is one of the major sponsors of my football club, Manchester City, and is investing significantly in east Manchester, where the stadium is located. [Interruption.] I beg forgiveness from my hon. Friend the Member for Blackley and Broughton, who supports the team from the other side of the city. Manchester City’s new training complex will be completed in October 2014; it will include a £200 million football academy and a 7,000-seat stadium. Only last month, the leader of the city council, Sir Richard Leese, announced a new partnership with Abu Dhabi United Group, the club’s owners. The partnership with the city council will build more than 6,000 new homes in run-down parts of east Manchester as part of a £1 billion, 20-year deal—the single biggest residential investment that Manchester has seen for a generation.
There are many other examples of regional airports driving regional growth and jobs throughout the UK. From its modest beginnings as a world war two US air force base, Stansted has grown into the fourth busiest airport in the UK, serving 18.5 million passengers. It is currently the largest single-site employer in the east of England, employing more than 10,200 people in 190 on-airport companies and contributing more than £770 million to the local economy. East Midlands airport generates about £239 million for the regional economy and supports more than 8,500 jobs in the region. The east midlands is also a major base for manufacturers in the UK because of the proximity to the cargo connections provided by East Midlands airport. Most of the UK is within four hours’ trucking time of the airport. Aberdeen International airport provides 2,000 jobs on site and supports a further 4,000 Scottish jobs. Around 3.5 million passengers travelled from the airport in 2013 to more than 30 UK and world destinations. Leeds Bradford International was the fastest-growing UK airport in 2013, and it serves more than 70 destinations. It is Yorkshire’s international gateway and serves the largest metropolitan region outside London.
Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) (Con)
It is like a game of bingo, waiting for one’s local airport to come up. The hon. Gentleman is right that Leeds has been one of the fastest-growing airports, but does he agree that one of the big problems it faces is the surface access arrangements? It is served by mediocre roads in residential areas, and that has caused huge problems for my constituents. This is more for the Minister’s ear, I suppose, but does the hon. Gentleman agree that we should look into a rail link to the airport to make the investment there truly effective?
Mike Kane
I would have thought that the Tour de France would have improved the roads in that region in the past few weeks. In 1882, a famous Mancunian, Daniel Adamson, envisaged a city region stretching from the Mersey estuary to the Humber estuary. We have to start thinking like one economic region across the country, and that includes the rail links the Chancellor began to talk about just a few weeks ago in Manchester.
Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing such a timely debate. As a member of the Transport Committee, when we discuss Heathrow expansion I am always banging the drum for our regional airports. I particularly enjoyed how accessible Manchester airport was when I flew with Pakistan International Airlines direct to Islamabad to visit Kashmir and Pakistan. My family and I also use Leeds Bradford airport. We must continue, across the House, to bang the drum for regional airports and stop being obsessed with Heathrow expansion. We need better connectivity for our regional airports, and we must use them better.
Mike Kane
I cannot agree more with the hon. Gentleman. As I said to the Minister in the main Chamber the other day, over the years Governments of all parties have sometimes been caught in the glare of Heathrow’s headlights when making policy, but really the issue is combining regional airports and growing power in our regions, partly through competition but mainly through co-operation.
Newcastle International airport plays a vital economic role in the north-east, to which it contributes £650 million. Since 2006, the value of exports flown through the airport has risen from under £20 million to more than £250 million. Birmingham airport—
Karen Lumley
I thank the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. I did not think he was going to get to Birmingham. Does he agree that if we are serious about rebalancing the country’s economy, we need airports such as Birmingham’s? Does he welcome the news that there are to be direct flights to China, which will enable business men in the west midlands to access emerging economies?
Mike Kane
I cannot agree more with the hon. Lady. The figures I have are that Birmingham airport’s catchment economy exported £55 billion of goods in 2011. We have to begin to exploit the emerging south-east Asian markets, and there is a need for regional airports, not just the hubs in the south-east of England.
There are smaller airports, such as Blackpool, which has been operating since 1909. A £2 million refurbishment of the passenger terminal there was completed in 2006, giving the airport the capacity to handle more than 2 million passengers a year.
Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)
The hon. Gentleman has made a great contribution in such a short time in the House, and he has clearly read the mood of the Chamber. If I may say so, Ms Dorries, your mother lives in the catchment area of Blackpool International airport, so what I say will be close to your heart as well. Although it is a Treasury matter, I would like to put on the table the suggestion that we consider variations in regional air passenger duty, which would act as an economic stimulus to enable airports to expand and offer new flights. I would also like to appeal directly to the Minister: my constituency has a rail link to Blackpool International airport, but a passing loop could increase the service from once to twice an hour. That would make a great contribution to the success of the airport.
Mike Kane
But we have to start thinking as a region. The best site might have been in Blackpool, but Manchester won the bid because of not only its corporate social responsibility but the direct flights to a nearby international airport. By increasing rail links across our regions and agglomerations, and across the north as a whole, we can in future act more effectively as a single economy.
London Luton airport has recently received final planning consent for a £100 million development to increase annual passenger capacity from 12 million to 18 million by 2031.
Gavin Shuker (Luton South) (Lab/Co-op)
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate, as well as on working out in his short time in the House how to get such a high attendance at a Westminster Hall debate. Does he agree that one effect of this period in which there has been a relative vacuum in aviation policy has been that regional airports have been able to step in to fill the gap? For example, without significant ground works—there will be no additional runway or lengthening—London Luton airport is expanding from 12 million to 18 million passengers. That is a great way to respond to the capacity gap in the south-east.
Mike Kane
I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. That expansion alone is forecast to add £283 million and more than 5,000 jobs to the regional economy around Luton. We need to grow Luton airport.
Connectivity in the UK is good, but to keep up with our European competitors we need to do more.
Mr Angus Brendan MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP)
The hon. Gentleman makes a good point about connectivity across the UK. Perhaps the regional air connectivity fund should be used for airports in the north of Scotland. Some might say that such airports are on the periphery of the UK, but they are certainly not on the periphery of the globe. Money from the fund could be used to link Stornoway to the Faroe Islands, or perhaps for through-flights coming from Iceland or wherever, in order to improve the economies of areas that are currently seen as peripheral but are actually very central in the context of global routes.
Mike Kane
Yes. Let us hope that Stornoway does not enter into competition with the beautiful island of Barra, where the landing strip is on the sea shore.
Since 2008, the UK’s connectivity has declined by 4.9%, whereas Germany’s has increased by 4.3% and France’s by 3.4%. My own airport, Manchester, has a positive story to tell about connectivity. After I have told that story, I will discuss other regional airports.
Mr Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale West) (Con)
Does the hon. Gentleman, who is my constituency neighbour, agree that all these airports that bring benefits to and improve the international connectivity of the British economy would benefit enormously if we did not persist in having what I think is the second highest rate of duty on air transport? It is a tax on trade and a tax on family holidays—should we not be lowering it?
Mike Kane
That is a good point. If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I will come to the connectivity fund and expand on the points about airport passenger duty in a few minutes.
Manchester is the international gateway to the north. It has 60 airlines serving more than 200 destinations, which is more than Heathrow. I repeat for Hansard: that is more than Heathrow. Last year, Manchester added more new routes than any other UK airport, serving the 24 million people who live within two hours’ drive. It is the only airport outside the south-east with a strong long-haul portfolio. As well as serving destinations such as Singapore, Pakistan and the US direct, it also offers strong onward connectivity via the middle east: three times daily to Dubai, twice daily to Abu Dhabi and 10 times a week to Doha. More recent connections include Hong Kong, Jeddah and Toronto, and the new Charlotte service has increased transatlantic services at the airport to more than 60 a week. Most of the world can be reached from Manchester either non-stop or with one stop.
However, 5 million passengers a year from Manchester’s catchment area leak to the London airports to catch flights. The challenge for the future is ensuring that passengers have the option to fly from their local airport, taking the pressure off the congested south-eastern airports. However, I hope to welcome High Speed 2 to the airport station at some stage in the near future. It will reduce journey times from Manchester airport to Euston from two hours and 24 minutes to 59 minutes.
As I said earlier, Stansted is the UK’s fourth busiest airport, serving more European destinations than any other airport in the world. Both Ryanair and easyJet have committed to growing their Stansted portfolios; Ryanair’s will grow from nearly 500 flights a week to more than 700 in winter 2014. Edinburgh is Scotland’s capital airport, with over 40 airlines serving more than 100 destinations. More than 9 million passengers a year pass through the airport.
For smaller point-to-point airports, although direct flights are preferable, indirect flights offer an important alternative where they do not exist, either via UK hubbing or through hubs in continental Europe or the middle east. At East Midlands airport, the priority for the future is to access more European hubs in order to widen connectivity; it currently serves Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. In the longer term, the airport is keen to have direct routes to emerging economies that are key to the region, such as India. Direct access to markets supports business and trade between the region and those markets. It is not just about how connected the UK is to the outside world today; it is about its connectivity in the future and how it compares with other EU and global airports, such as those in the gulf.
Access to global connectivity is not simply an issue of access to Heathrow. Passengers value the choice, competition and service offered by alternative carriers connecting through alternative hubs, such as in the middle east. Manchester airport does not have the luxury of a UK hub operator and relies on overseas carriers to provide long-haul connectivity. Without those carriers, Manchester would just be a spoke into Heathrow. Ultimately, it is the airlines that determine which routes are flown, and therefore overall connectivity, depending on long-term route profitability. However, political and regulatory factors can play a major role in influencing the attractiveness of starting and sustaining routes.
The UK still enjoys a strong position in transatlantic aviation and flights to traditional partners such as India, but is linked to relatively fewer locations in Brazil, Russia and mainland China. Both Germany and France have much better connectivity to China in particular. In a 2012 survey by CBI and KPMG, almost half of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the UK’s air links to emerging markets. Of companies that deemed flights to China to be crucial, only 46% were satisfied with their current availability.
Regional airport connectivity is not just about the number of destinations served; it is also about the frequency of services, the economic value that they drive, the accessibility of destinations right across the UK, whether flights take place at convenient times, and their capacity. The Government have demonstrated their support for the growth of connectivity from regional airports by announcing the regional air connectivity fund. This will provide public support for new intra-EU routes from airports with fewer than 3 million passengers per year, or 3 million to 5 million in exceptional circumstances. The hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr MacNeil) commented on the fund a few moments ago.
Funding will be available for five years and will come to an end in March 2019. Airlines will have to prove that they can make money from the route without public assistance after two years. However, in reality, competition rules will make it difficult for many routes to qualify. Those that do will be at the smallest airports and will be short-haul routes only, not the game-changing routes we need such as Manchester to Beijing.
It is important to acknowledge the steps the Government took in this year’s Budget, when the Chancellor cut air passenger duty on long-haul routes to destinations including China, India, Brazil and many other emerging markets. However, the Government could go further by offering a temporary air passenger duty exemption for new long-haul routes, as recommended by the Select Committee on Transport and mentioned by the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale West (Mr Brady). It would help to make best use of existing capacity and encourage more routes to emerging economies.
A temporary APD holiday would have the advantage of being a proven commercial strategy and one that airports use: that is, a lead-in discount. It would cost the Treasury nothing, as the Treasury receives no income from routes that do not yet exist. Forgoing revenue on new routes until they were established would cost nothing and could result in an income stream later on.
Mr MacNeil
The hon. Gentleman is speaking eminent sense. I am sure that he is aware of the success in Iberia and Catalonia with routes from Barcelona. The Government in Madrid did not take the APD, and 21 new routes were started in one year due to the APD holiday, as he suggested. The Government here would do well to learn from the lessons in continental Europe.
Mike Kane
I am grateful for that contribution. We must continue to consider APD. We live in a competitive world and we want a competitive market, but we also want a level playing field with competing airports across Europe, such as those in Spain, particularly Barcelona. A temporary APD holiday would be in line with the Government objectives of making best use of existing capacity and promoting links to emerging economies and economic growth near regional airports.
Mr Nigel Dodds (Belfast North) (DUP)
I commend the hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate. He may be aware that in Northern Ireland, international flights are exempt from APD, because it is now a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. I heartily endorse what he and the Transport Committee have suggested. Although we have devolved power, as a result of intense competition from Dublin international airport just down the road, which has zero APD, it is nevertheless a major cost to the Northern Ireland block grant, meaning that the money cannot be spent in other important areas such as health, education and so on. I agree totally with what he says about the need for action at a UK level.
Mike Kane
I look forward to flying from Manchester to Belfast on Friday morning to represent Wythenshawe in Falcarragh over the weekend. However, we could not secure a route from Manchester to Londonderry airport. We need further connectivity between UK airports.
Clearly, strict rules would be needed to prevent airlines from churning from one airport to another to create new routes. The route would need to introduce net additional capacity from the UK. The Treasury could also review the impact of APD on the economy and on connectivity, as there is anecdotal evidence to suggest that high rates have damaged connectivity. To give just one recent example, AirAsia ceased operations in the UK, citing APD levels as the primary cause.
There is also a case for greater liberalisation of access to UK airports, particularly regional airports. Given that the UK long-haul carriers have consolidated their services at Heathrow, airports elsewhere must rely predominantly on overseas carriers to provide direct scheduled links to long-haul destinations. The Government have gone some way towards further liberalising foreign access; the last aviation framework document said that access would be granted, even without reciprocity, on a case-by-case basis. However, where there are concerns about issues such as state aid, access may still be refused and UK airlines have the right to object. But if UK airlines are not interested in serving points directly from airports such as Manchester, the Government should be prepared to open the market to airlines that are.
Aviation is vital to Britain’s competitiveness and future economic success. It is undoubtedly a key driver of our regional economies and a catalyst for the UK’s economic growth and jobs. Through mechanisms such as APD and the regional airport connectivity fund, the Government should continue to look at how they can maximise support for our regional airports, which would increase connectivity, remove pressure from congested airports in the south-east, and help to create additional capacity for jobs and growth throughout the UK. Supporting regional airports is a win-win situation not only for our regional economies but for the UK as a whole.
Mr Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South) (Lab)
It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Dorries, and take part in this debate. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane) on securing it and on making such a forceful case, not just for Manchester airport but for regional airports throughout the country. Indeed, he laid out his case with such aplomb that I thought that a Government so handy about and keen on appointing tsars might make him airport tsar in the near future.
The debate gives us an important opportunity to hear about the great benefits provided by local airports and the significant challenges that they face. That has been reflected in hon. Members’ contributions. My hon. Friend the Member for Blackley and Broughton (Graham Stringer) proposed a radical open skies initiative as a potential game changer; the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) clearly outlined the positive signs for Northern Ireland; and the hon. Member for North Thanet (Sir Roger Gale) rightly spoke about the situation at Manston. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Members for Luton South (Gavin Shuker) and his colleague on the part they have played in getting the expansion at Luton. He rightly drew attention to the skills and the business opportunities there. The right hon. Member for Gordon (Sir Malcolm Bruce) reminded us, with the sad tale of British Airways’ withdrawal from Aberdeen, of the broader responsibilities that airlines have to their local communities. I cannot forget my parliamentary neighbour, the hon. Member for Fylde (Mark Menzies), who rightly praised Blackpool airport, pointing out its value not only to his constituents, but to mine. Blackpool airport has a distinguished past, with aviation activity since 1909 and mass Air Force training in world war two. Today it offers a wide range of medium-range destinations, not least via Jet2.com.
The debate is such that we have to touch on what more can be done for the communities that regional airports serve and how Governments have a role in helping the airports to expand. Putting regional airports at the heart of our transport policy as economic generators and job creators in the communities in which they operate reaffirms their role as vital links to national infrastructure, crucial to spreading economic growth more evenly across the regions. UK regional airports served 220 million passengers in 2013, and Manchester welcomed more than 20 million of them. Although overall UK airport use fell during the recession, Manchester increased its share to 9.1%, and other major airports outside the south-east such as Edinburgh, Bristol and Leeds have also increased their share. Experiences vary across different regional airports, so a robust understanding of them and an overarching narrative regarding their needs and opportunities are essential at the heart of Government.
There is no doubting the great economic value that airports create for their communities. They bring trade and tourism into areas and provide jobs, apprenticeships and skills programmes for local people. In meetings with airport operators, I have often stressed how essential it is that they scale up that community engagement and promote what they already do, which can be substantial. I am therefore delighted that the Airport Operators Association publicised that work in its recent report, “Airports in the Community”. My hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East referred to some of that work. Poignantly, in view of what the right hon. Member for Gordon said, Aberdeen airport, apart from the 2,000 jobs on-site, helps to recruit 1,700 overseas students who attend the Aberdeen business school. Newcastle airport employs 3,200 people directly, but supports a further 8,000 jobs in the north-east. The story of airports’ great value is consistent across the country. In the north-west, John Lennon airport has 2,000 people working on-site; Manchester has shown great corporate social responsibility work with its airport academy and its young people’s skills academy, which targets young people in Wythenshawe in my hon. Friend’s constituency. A whole raft of good activity is going on in airports.
Several airports are putting education at the heart of their community outreach. Birmingham has its own flight school, available for pupils across the midlands, and Leeds Bradford offers students across west Yorkshire aviation masterclasses. Those are programmes of real substance. East Midlands airport has won a “business in the community” award and airports of all sizes and resources can make a valuable and prized contribution to their local area. Biggin Hill, central to the heroic fights of the battle of Britain in the second world war, but now a strong local airport, is in the second year of its Nick Davidson memorial flying scholarship. He was a British Airways pilot who pledged to fund a scholarship to train a new young pilot every year. London Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted, while not regional airports, run their own excellent community schemes, too. Heathrow has put 3,500 jobseekers through basic skills training; Gatwick has a scheme to support young entrepreneurs; and Stansted raises substantial sums of money for the local air ambulance trust. The success of those schemes shows the value of expanding them more broadly across all regional airports.
That is one side of the relationship between airports and communities. The other is what can be done by Government and local stakeholders at all levels to support regional airports, to keep their operations viable and to help them to expand into new and prosperous routes where possible. In that, the Government cannot always claim to be keeping up their end of the deal.
In last year’s spending review, the Government announced money for funding public service obligations for new air routes. That funding was increased to £20 million a year and rebadged as the regional air connectivity fund in this year’s Budget. Announcing the scheme in March, the Chancellor named three airports he believed might benefit: Liverpool, Leeds and Inverness. Two out of those three—Liverpool and Leeds—may not qualify for any support under the current rules. European state aid guidance makes clear that the fund should be directed at smaller regional airports with fewer than 3 million passengers. There is support for regional airports with between 3 million and 5 million passengers, but only in exceptional circumstances. Does the Minister yet have an answer as to how to define those exceptional circumstances? If so, can he tell us? It is a year since the funding was first announced, but airports such as Newcastle, Belfast, Liverpool and Aberdeen are in the dark as to whether they can they apply for funding. Can he reassure them that investing scant time and money in making an application to the fund will be anything more than a trip down a blind alley?
The European Commission also wants to prevent airlines from simply switching from one airport to a local competitor, but those rules could end up being highly restrictive. Great city regions, such as Manchester and Liverpool, need to have their own functional economies and access to trade routes. What progress are the Minister and his officials making with the Commission on the regulations to make it easier for all of our regions to get the support they need?
Today’s written ministerial statement on the Davies review lets slip the prospect of slightly more procrastination, with a consultation on guidance for the fund to be announced soon, but not the guidance itself. While we are on the subject of procrastination, what about the rest of the statement, which delays the creation of the Davies’ noise ombudsman until after the election and fails to answer the questions raised by businesses and more generally? The Opposition have been emphatic that dealing with issues of noise and emissions is central to building consensus between regional airports and the communities they serve. Those communities who feel pressure and are concerned about the future might well feel aggrieved if they cannot even start work on those issues now. We need robust evidence to take the debate forward.
The Davies commission pointed out that Government investment would represent only 5% of the typical cost of a new start-up route. Do Ministers foresee that the investment will be a game-changer for regional airports? What support will be available for those airports that will not qualify, because they have more than 5 million passengers, such as Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Glasgow?
All these airports share the need for quality investment in surface access. Consumers think about the whole journey from point A to point B and how easily accessible their local airport really is. Investment in the local roads network is essential, but so is the prioritisation of public transport routes and reducing carbon emissions. We have seen great improvements at airports such as Manchester—the city’s excellent Metrolink will be going to the airport from next year, which is ahead of schedule—and there has also been investment in Gatwick, where renovations to the train station are under way, but smaller airports must not be neglected. One way of ensuring that is for airports to have real influence on local enterprise partnership boards and to benefit from the increased devolution of funding and decision making. The Department for Transport is already a significant contributor to the single local growth fund, which will be top-sliced under Government proposals, so it is essential that the interests of transport connectivity in general and airport connectivity in particular are reflected in the way funding is distributed. How is the Minister monitoring how airports and their communities are benefiting from the bidding stage of the single local growth fund?
The principles and approaches I outline are echoed in the proposals that we in the Labour party have put out to benefit the regions—not just those produced by the shadow Business Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Streatham (Mr Umunna), and those in the Armitt infrastructure report, but now those in the Adonis document, which looks at devolution and local decision making. We fully recognise local airports’ role as economic drivers, and their potential to prosper with truly devolved local structures and funding. The history of Manchester airport—it stood out against the depredations of Thatcherism in the mid-1980s to construct a model that involved local councils, and it has been able to build on that with the combined authority arrangements—demonstrates that potential. As regional airports look at the increasingly popular point-to-point flights, the national network is increasingly relevant for them.
Mr Marsden
I’m afraid not, because of lack of time.
There is need for short-term action as well, which includes saying something about expanding the capacity in the south-east. I am sure that the Minister is aware of the letter signed by the 50 business leaders in The Sunday Times this weekend. Given that the ministerial statement says nothing to answer the question of regional airports at all, will he make a definitive statement in the near future? My hon. Friends have talked about air passenger duty, and regional airports feel aggrieved because they feel that long haul has been given benefits, while they have been given none.
In the broadest sense, we must have political consensus on how to move forward on airport capacity. We want to reach that consensus soon in the next Parliament, but it has to be in far more expansive and wide-ranging ways than the Government’s pale version of Michael Heseltine’s vision. The Labour party is determined to ensure that the bright future for regional airports, as highlighted in this debate secured by my hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East, comes to pass.