Heathrow CEO warns that inaction on airport capacity could jeopardise growth of Northern Powerhouse

Heathrow CEO warns that inaction on airport capacity could jeopardise growth of Northern Powerhouse

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye today warned that the Government’s ambition to transform the North of England into a high productivity, high growth ‘Northern Powerhouse’ is at risk unless the Government takes action on airport expansion. Speaking at the 2016 International Festival for Business in Liverpool, Holland-Kaye referred to analysis from Frontier (Europe) that sets out the importance of having a ‘domestically-located hub’.

Some UK regions have long haul connectivity via internationally-located hubs, such as Schiphol Amsterdam, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Dubai. But Frontier’s analysis indicates that domestically-located hubs tend to provide 70% greater frequency to their domestic regions than internationally-located hubs. Frequency is important for enabling convenient one-stop connections that leave at a time when business passengers want to fly.

The analysis also highlights that connectivity via domestically-located hubs supports higher levels of trade compared with connectivity via internationally-located hubs. Capacity constraints at Heathrow currently restrict the number of passengers able to connect via the UK’s only domestically-located hub. Lifting this constraint could help facilitate an additional £710 million in extra trade each year for the North of England.

Frontier regularly advises airports and airlines on issues relating to investment, regulation and economic impact.

For further information, please contact media@frontier-economics.com or call +44 (0) 20 7031 7000.