There’s life beyond the South East say airport bosses
MANCHESTER Airports Group is calling for a major rethink on the country’s aviation strategy in a key report.
The group, which owns Manchester, Stansted, East Midlands and Bournemouth airports, argues its growth proves regional airports can thrive, and investment in the South East is not the only solution to the nation’s future needs.
It believes a national network of competing regional airports will help rebalance the economy, tying in with the government’s regional economic strategies including the much talked about Northern Powerhouse.
MAG said in its annual corporate social responsibility report that a record 48.5 million passengers used its airports last year, an increase of 10.7%.
Manchester has its best-ever year, as its numbers grew by 7.2% to 22.3 million and Stansted’s increased by more than 16% to 20.9 million.
The report also says the group contributed £5.6bn in economic activity to the country and employed almost 39,000 people at its airports. Despite the growth, carbon emissions from the four airports are down by 16% cent while complaints about noise fell by 24%.
Neil Robinson, the director of corporate social responsibility at MAG, told The Times: “The figures we are releasing today demonstrate the powerful role that airports across the country play in generating wider social and economic benefit for their local communities and the UK economy.
“People up and down the country, whether they are looking to travel on leisure or business, or find employment, tell us time again how valuable it is to have access to their local airport.
“Not only does a nationwide network of competing airports provide the best solution for customers, but it also provides an important catalyst for rebalancing UK plc.”
