Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to ACI Europe’s 2020 Airport Industry Connectivity Report published in December 2020, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the collapse of the UK’s regional aviation network on the number of (a) air routes lost between the UK and Europe and (b) redundancies among aviation companies in the UK.

The Government recognises the challenges faced by the aviation sector at this time. The Government is committed to maintaining critical connectivity and through policies like Public Service Obligations the Department for Transport subsidises routes into London.

The Government is keen to find ways to work closely with the industry to ease restrictions on international travel gradually and sustainably. The Secretary of State for Transport will lead a successor to the Global Travel Taskforce to develop a framework that can facilitate greater travel when the time is right, while still managing the risk from imported cases and variants.

The Government is working on a strategic framework for the recovery of the sector. It will explore the return to growth of the aviation sector, and will include consideration of workforce and skills, regional connectivity, noise, innovation and regulation, and consumer issues.