Future development of air transport in Wales

Response to the Department for Transport consultation document

The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: Wales

The Wales TUC welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Department for Transport consultation document "The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: Wales". The Wales TUC represents 56 trade unions who in turn represent half a million members across Wales, including around 15,000 members in the aviation and related sector.

• Introduction
• The Development of Cardiff International Airport
• Development of Air Services around Wales
• Links to London Airports
• Development of Manchester and Liverpool Airports

Introduction

The Wales TUC makes this response in support of the submission made by the Trades Union Congress.

This response will centre on four key issues;

· Development of Cardiff International Airport

· Development of Air Services around Wales

· Links into London Airports

· Development of Manchester and Liverpool Airports

The Development of Cardiff International Airport

The Wales TUC sees the development of Cardiff International Airport (CIA) as a key strand within any economic development strategy for Wales. However as it currently stands, the airport is little more than a base for small scale scheduled services and seasonal holiday charters.

While the Wales TUC welcomes the arrival of Bmi-baby, the no frills British Midland subsidiary, to its second UK hub at CIA, we believe that the airport can and should be able to attract a greater diversity of services. Indeed some of the services to be provided by Bmi-baby are releases by British Airways Regional airline.

The Wales TUC believes that the airport’s utilisation can be significantly improved, partly by a better marketing campaign by the Welsh Tourist Board, which is not wholly relevant to this consultation, and, importantly by development and improvements to the infrastructure of the airport.

The Wales TUC, along with many business organisations and their representatives, believe that there is now urgent need to address the infrastructure deficit that is blighting CIA. We welcome the fact that the Welsh Assembly Government is developing rail links into the airport. However, evidence from other airports suggests that many passengers will continue to want to drive to other airports and will use air shuttle facilities where they exist. The current road system into CIA is antiquated and is a scenic A class road that links the Vale of Glamorgan and the town of Barry to Cardiff. It is woefully inadequate as a link to an International Airport. The Wales TUC would wish to see a new dual carriageway directly linked to the M4 motorway.

Development of Air Services around Wales

In supporting the development of Cardiff International Airport, the Wales TUC recognises that the airport does not currently meet the needs of those living in North and West Wales.

Transport links across Wales are fine for travelling between east and west on the north and south seaboard. But the A55 and the M4 won’t help you get from north to south or vice versa and there is no convenient rail alternative. Wales TUC believes that a revamped and re-launched internal air service would be a major boost to the economic potential of many parts of Wales.

The Wales TUC believes that there is now an urgent need for a full-scale study into the demand for an internal ‘hop, skip and jump’ air service in Wales.

The study should also take account of the fact that such internal air services will act as a catalyst for future industrial development around the chosen sites. Because such developments will be aligned to the aviation industry, jobs will be of a high quality, valued-added standard. In the mid to long term, Wales could well become a centre of excellence for the aviation industry and its supply chain.

Whilst we have not prescribed which airports/airfields we would wish to see developed at this stage, we believe that the study should take account of the following locations and demand.

· Valley (Anglesey)

· Llanbedr (Gwynedd)

· Hawarden (Flintshire)

· Aberporth (Ceredigion)

· Pembrey (Carmarthenshire)

· Withybush (Haverfordwest)

· Swansea

· Businesses - especially from South West, North West and Mid Wales, in terms of people and freight.

· Passengers to/from Cardiff, including transit customers.

· The National Assembly for Wales.

· Any future Welsh International Airport development.

Links to London Airports

There are no direct flights to London airports from CIA or anywhere else in Wales. In fact the main international hubs for CIA are Amsterdam and Paris. It does seem incredible that, annually, tens of thousands of passengers across Wales drive, go by train or use flightlink coach services, often passing within a few miles of CIA, as they make their way to London airports such as Heathrow or Gatwick. It also seems to fly in the face of efforts to ensure Heathrow keeps its pre-eminent position as the European hub of choice that CIA only serves competitors of Heathrow.

The Wales TUC believes that direct air links to London would be both profitable and convenient for a significant number of passengers in Wales, both direct and transferring. The consultation document already tells us that London Heathrow is the airport of choice for people in South Wales. We believe that a study to ascertain demand for internal flights in Wales may show that passengers want to use CIA as a hub to access all the benefits that London airports bring.

The Wales TUC, along with its business partners, believes that presently Wales holds little attraction for inward investment, because there is a perception that ‘Wales is a difficult place to get to and travel around’. In the long term this could jeopardise the benefits that Objective 1 funding could bring.

There is also some evidence to suggest that a lack of direct flights from London hinders overseas tourist expenditure in Wales. In the table below we have calculated the average expenditure per overseas tourist, adapted from National Statistics data. We note that only two regions, outside of the London airport hinterland, have no direct flights to London, and these two regions are at the bottom of the league of expenditure per person.

1. Analysis of overseas tourist numbers (2001) -

based on average expenditure per overseas tourist

Country/Region	Average expenditure Per Tourist (£)	Direct Services to London Airport
London	508	Yes
Scotland	473	Yes
Southern	447	In hinterland
Northumbria	430	Yes
East of England	375	In hinterland
Heart of England	338	Yes
South East	337	In hinterland
Northern Ireland	333	Yes
Yorkshire	328	Yes
North West	305	Yes
Wales	275	No
Cumbria	200	No

Source: Adapted from Travel Statistics (National Statistics)

Development of Manchester and Liverpool Airports

The consultation document recognises the dominant role of Manchester Airport in catering for North Wales’ demand for short haul scheduled air travel and that together with Heathrow is the main airport for long haul scheduled air travel.

The consultation document also recognises the importance to the region of Liverpool Airport for charter travel.

The Wales TUC therefore supports improvements in access to both airports, but in particular Manchester, because of its proximity compared with Heathrow. The Wales TUC also supports the further expansion of the facilities at Manchester.