In a new paper released today, The Case for Aviation, Kwasi Kwarteng argues that Britain is losing out because of inadequate aviation infrastructure.
The cities that grew in the past were the cities that were best connected to the trade routes of the world: the merchant cities of Venice and Florence, or the industrial powerhouses of Manchester and New York. Today the leading transport technology is aviation, and the leading trade cities are accordingly defined by their aviation hubs.
London is falling behind other European cities. Paris and Frankfurt enjoy 1,000 more annual flights to the three largest cities in China than Heathrow. Demand is set to double over the next decades, while our airports are already nearing capacity, Heathrow is 99% full, while Gatwick is 95%. The economy cannot afford to wait the thirty years it would take to build a new airport. Expanding the current airports is the only viable option in the short to medium term. To deliver growth, airport operators should be enabled to build at least one more runway in South East England by 2020 – either Stansted, Gatwick or Heathrow. Government should expedite this by allowing compensation to be paid directly to affected residents for this critical infrastructure project by the airport operator. This could be the precursor of wider planning system reforms.
The UK’s shortage of aviation capacity is growing urgent. Hub airports depend on economies of scale. If London loses its position as Europe’s business hub, it will not be easy to regain. Britain will need at least one new runway within the next ten years.
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