Edited by Paul Hackett
This collection of essays by airline insiders, airport operators, aviation experts and leading businesses, warns that the decline of regional airports will damage local economies and undermine the UK’s competitiveness. This report follows on from work the Institute has undertaken on regional economic development and local economies, including research on transport links and how London connects with the rest of the country. An important component of this is regional airports and regional connectivity, in particular with London’s airports.
As the report documents the number of domestic routes to London (especially Heathrow) has fallen dramatically since 1990. Many passengers from the regions no longer have the choice of flying via Heathrow because domestic flights have been squeezed out. This is largely a consequence of capacity constraints which have increased the commercial trade-offs between long haul and domestic flights. Large parts of the UK now have no connection to the UK’s main hub airports which provide access to important worldwide markets. The authors explore different options for reversing this trend, including increasing capacity, better use of regulation and a long-term strategy for regional air travel.