New figures reveal airlines locating flights outside the UK

A survey by the Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR UK), which represents 84 scheduled airlines, shows that more than half (53%) either have located or are preparing to locate flights in other countries that they say would have come to the UK if there was spare capacity at Heathrow. Eighty-six percent of airlines said that they would put on more flights to the UK if additional take-off and landing slots were available at Heathrow (below).

The results suggest that the UK is handing the thousands of jobs and millions of pounds worth of trade which would come with extra flights to our European competitors and show the urgent need for new hub airport capacity.  Colin Matthews argued that whatever the long-term solution to UK hub airport capacity, the Government will need to consider short and medium-term options for growth at Heathrow if the UK is not to lose its status as a global aviation hub.

Speaking at the Transport Times Conference 'A New Strategy for UK Aviation - The Case for New Hub Capacity', Colin Matthews (above) said: “These figures show that it is a mistake to believe that flights displaced from Heathrow will automatically fly to Stansted, Gatwick or Birmingham instead. The message I hear from airlines is clear: if there’s no room at Heathrow then flights will move out of the UK altogether. Instead of Britain taking the lead in forging new links with growing economies like China, we are handing economic growth to our competitors by turning away airlines who want to bring jobs, growth and trade to the UK.”

The survey supports the recent research by Frontier Economics that found there were 21 emerging market destinations with daily flights from other European hubs that were not served with a daily flight from Heathrow. UK businesses trade 20 times as much with emerging market countries that have a direct daily flight to the UK as they do with those countries that do not. This lack of connectivity is expected to cost the UK economy £14bn over the next 10 years in lost trade.

European competitors already serve seven more cities in China than the UK does. Paris, Frankfurt or Amsterdam airports will boast direct flights to Chengdu, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Xiamen, Nanjing, Shenyang and Qingdao this year, in addition to the flights to Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai served from the UK.

Mike Carrivick (above), Chief Executive of BAR UK - which conducted the research - said: “UK business leaders should be very concerned about the restrictions on reaching new markets at such a critical time in the UK recovery effort. The survey’s results are a chilling reminder that the Government must act decisively, and soon, in the national interest. Restricting capacity at key airports to the same level as the last decade is actively encouraging airlines and trade to go elsewhere.”