This autumn will mark a turning point in the automotive sector. aviation in the United Kingdomas the Government will decide what to do with regard to the capacity saturation affecting our sector.
The British Prime Minister and his cabinet will have to decide whether to endorse the recommendations issued by the Airports Commission in the final report published this summer.
The UK aviation market is the third largest in the world, and its airports have prospered thanks to liberalisation and competition.
We will urge the Government to give its support to the growth of the aviation sector in the UK and to respond adequately and urgently to the full range of the Commission's recommendations, in order to end the uncertainty, maintain the current momentum and secure much needed additional capacity.
In addition, the government must recognise that it will take at least a decade to complete the new runways and must help to ensure that this is done. the best possible use of existing capacity throughout the country, so that all airports that wish to do so can increase their capacity. To this end, the government could speed up the planning process to stimulate airport development, as well as defining a clear framework allowing the best possible use of the airspace around airports, which would improve environmental and capacity performance.
The Government will also have to take decisions on the future of the Air Passenger Duty (APD) in the UK. The overall rate of APD remains the highest in the world and needs to be reduced, but we face a further problem in relation to APD. Ministers have promised to hand over control of APD north of the border to the Scottish government (and may do so in Wales as well). During this year's general election campaign, the First Minister promised that airports would not be negatively impacted as a result of this change.. The simplest and fairest way to meet this commitment would be to ensure that any reduction in charges anywhere in the UK is immediately applied throughout the UK, so that airports can continue to compete on a level playing field.
Moreover, the decisions to be taken in Brussels this autumn are also likely to have a major impact on the future of UK airports. The European Commission has been conducting a comprehensive review of its aviation policy, which affects all 28 Member States. Two issues are of crucial importance to our partners: the Commission must resist pressure from some powerful airlines to pass on new costs to airports and it must also resist pressure from European airlines to introduce new protectionist measures against Middle Eastern airlines. The UK aviation market is the third largest in the world, and its airports are the third largest in the world. have prospered thanks to liberalisation and competition.. It is vital that the Commission continues to support this way of working.
