Businesses & Unions Back Heathrow Growth
14.11.06THE CAMPAIGN for environmentally-sustainable expansion of Heathrow Airport took a major step forward last week as business leaders and union officials committed themselves to protecting the airport’s status as a world-class hub. A large group of local employers attended a meeting organised by the Thames Valley Economic Partnership to discuss the airport’s future. Companies voiced concern that they might be forced to consider relocating if Heathrow’s route network continued to shrink. The airport currently serves 186 destinations worldwide. In 1990, the total was 22 per cent higher at 227. Over the same period, competing national hubs such as Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt have surged ahead, increasing their route totals to 213, 244 and 260 respectively. Shaun Whittaker, TVEP chief executive, said: “Good air transport links are absolutely essential for businesses wanting to succeed in today’s global economy. Our companies need access to markets, and investors and suppliers need access to us. “For decades, the economic prosperity of the Thames Valley region has been intimately linked with Heathrow’s worldwide reach. If the route network is now in decline, that is a real worry.” At Wednesday’s meeting, businesses expressed support for the development of a short, third runway at Heathrow to create the capacity needed to fly to more destinations. The partnership represents more than 80 employers, and has helped over 300 foreign-owned companies to set up in the Thames Valley over the last ten years. At a separate event on Thursday, officials from the TGWU, GMB, Amicus, BALPA and other unions pledged to begin lobbying local councils and the Government to ensure the airport was not allowed to fall into decline. John Gurney, a senior Amicus official, said: “There are about 70,000 jobs on the airport and a further 100,000 indirectly dependent on Heathrow’s success. “Aviation is a highly competitive, international industry. There is absolutely no guarantee that these jobs will continue if Heathrow falls further and further behind its rivals.” Lord Soley, campaign director of the Future Heathrow group, said the two meetings showed that both employers and unions realised the need to strengthen Heathrow if it was to maintain current levels of prosperity and employment. He added: “People are starting to wake up to the very real threat to Heathrow’s position posed by other European airports. Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris all now have more connections to cities in the UK regions than Heathrow itself. “Without a short third runway, Heathrow will soon fall even further down the league table - behind Munich, Milan, Rome and Madrid.” As Clive Soley, the peer was a west London MP for 26 years until May 2005.
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