Today (Wednesday 29 January 2025) in a speech in Oxford, Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced support for expansion of the UK’s airports capacity.
Commenting on these comments, Karen Dee, chief executive of AirportsUK, the trade association for UK airports, said:
“Airports make an enormous contribution to the economy, connecting businesses, facilitating imports and exports, bringing in investment and creating jobs.
“Expanding capacity will support growth in all these areas and will not come at the expense of our sustainability goals”.
“New, cleaner fuels, more efficient and quieter aircraft, decarbonised airport operations and modernisation of our airspace will all ensure aviation is able to meet its obligations, alongside growth.
“The chancellor is right to get behind airports as key engines for economic growth and to prioritise policies that can help deliver additional global connectivity.”
The latest analysis for AirportsUK by the economic analysts Steer, found that airports contribute over £27bn of gross added value to the UK economy and support over 270,000 jobs.
These numbers increase to £53bn and over 660,000 jobs when airlines are added, and to almost £64bn and 1m jobs when tourism and international students are taken into consideration.
The same research found that almost £100bn of UK GVA depends on air freight, representing 4.3% of the total measure of UK output.
Commenting on the aviation impact on UK industries, Dee continued:
“Sectors as diverse as transport equipment, pharmaceuticals, the creative industries and clothing rely on good air links, to the tune of billions of pounds of value.
“Growing connectivity into global markets will support these sectors and countless others, creating jobs, bringing new customers to our goods and services, and opening new opportunities for investment.”
Steer data shows that GVA worth £16bn for transport equipment, £14.6bn for pharmaceuticals, £5.2bn for the creative arts and entertainment, and £3.5bn for clothing is dependent on air freight.
Commenting on the regional impacts, Dee said:
“Aviation’s contributions are also shared across the entire country, with all regions of the UK benefitting through increased trade opportunities brought about by better connectivity.
“Supporting airports is to support local businesses, create jobs in our towns and cities, and help hard working, ordinary people of the UK go on holiday and visit family every year.”
AirportsUK’s data provided by Steer shows that £10.4bn or 6.5% of the economy of the West Midlands is reliant on air freight, with similar figures for Wales (£5.3bn or 7.1%), the North East (£5.3bn or 8.4%), the East Midlands (£8.2bn or 6.4%) and the North West (£13.8bn or 6.3%).
ENDS
