Boris warns regional airports, including Liverpool & Aberdeen, of likely cut in links to Heathrow with a 3rd runway
London Mayor Boris Johnson has rubbished claims a Heathrow 3rd runway would boost connectivity for the regions. He says Liverpool may not get a domestic link to Heathrow, even with a new runway. He has warned other regional airports of the same thing. In 1990 Heathrow supported 18 domestic routes, but that has fallen to seven. With a new runway, the Airports Commission expects that to fall to just four. The current seven are Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle. They have all on average seen their number of daily flights to London. If businesses in the Liverpool City Region, such as advanced engineering, creative and financial and professional services, need to air link to the world, they could do that through a hub airport (Heathrow, Schiphol, Paris etc). Or they could do it by their own direct flight links, but those would be less likely if there is an even bigger monopoly airport in the south east of England. Since 2012, the number of daily flights between Aberdeen and Heathrow has dropped from 13 flights a day to 8 flights a day. Heathrow claims it would provide more regional links – but it has cut these in the past, preferring to focus on more profitable long haul flights. That tendency is likely to continue, even with a new runway.
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Liverpool John Lennon Airport link with London not guaranteed, claims Boris
20.10.2015 (Echo)
BY NEIL HODGSON
Mayor of London rubbishes claims a third runway would boost connectivity for regions
London Mayor Boris Johnson is arguing against a third Heathrow runway.London Mayor Boris Johnson is arguing against a third Heathrow runway.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has warned that Liverpool may not get a domestic link to Heathrow Airport, even if the London hub gets the green light for a third runway.
Heathrow has won the backing of the Airports Commission and support among the region’s businesses and business leaders for its campaign, and it claims the extra capacity would lead to more regional airports, such as Liverpool John Lennon, being able to establish new links with the capital, a link it lost in 1992.
In 1990 Heathrow supported 18 domestic routes, but that has fallen to seven.
And Mr Johnson claims even if a new runway is built, that figure could fall to just four.
He says the seven cities which have retained a direct connection to Heathrow – Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle – have all seen a a halving, on average, in their daily flights to the capital.
Key sectors in the Liverpool City Region, such as advanced engineering, financial and professional services, and creative enterprise, would be boosted by the global access that only a UK hub can provide.
However, aviation experts contend that cities without hub connections with network airlines can become invisible to those seeking to do business.
Mr Johnson, said: “Having connections with the UK hub airport is hugely important for Liverpool.
“Those connections allow businesses to trade and secure investment across the globe.
“But the truth is that Heathrow has been failing our regions for well over a quarter of a century and, quite staggeringly, the Airports Commission’s own analysis shows that the construction of a third runway only worsens the situation.
“That is not how you rebalance the economy and spread prosperity across the UK.
“The only long-term solution that would enable British businesses to compete on a level playing field with our European competitors is to build a four-runway hub airport, and the only logical location for that airport is to the east of London.”
He said Britain needs a hub airport with four runways to compete with the four runway airports in Europe, such as Frankfurt and Paris Charles De Gaulle, which have overtaken Heathrow.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “The Airports Commission has confirmed that Heathrow expansion would ‘markedly improve UK regional connections to the hub airport’ and ‘reverse the trend of declining links between London and the rest of the UK’.”
They said an expanded Heathrow will also welcome carriers like easyJet who have confirmed they will launch new routes to destinations like Inverness and Jersey, enhance competition on existing services and drive down fares.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/business/liverpool-john-lennon-airport-link-10289087
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BORIS Johnson has warned Aberdeen could lose its Heathrow connection if a third runway at the London airport goes ahead.
20.10.2015 (Evening Post)
Since 2012, the number of daily flights between Aberdeen and Heathrow has dropped by 38%, from 13 flights a day to eight flights a day.
The Mayor of London has written to airports warning the Airports Commission has forecast an expansion would mean fewer domestic routes – reducing the number of British airports connected to a UK hub from seven, including Aberdeen, to four.
He said: “Having connections with the UK hub airport is hugely important for Aberdeen and the North-east of Scotland. Those connections allow businesses to trade and secure investment across the globe.
“But the truth is that Heathrow has been failing our regions for well over a quarter of a century and, quite staggeringly, the Airports Commission’s own analysis shows the construction of a third runway only worsens the situation.”
However, a Heathrow spokesman said expansion would improve capacity for airports like Aberdeen. He said: “The Airports Commission has confirmed Heathrow expansion ‘would markedly improve UK regional connections to the hub airport’ and ‘reverse the trend of declining links between London and the rest of the UK’.
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London mayor Boris Johnson warns expanded Heathrow will not help Teesside connections
Boris Johnson has alerted business and political leaders in Teesside that they face the prospect of not regaining its aviation route to Heathrow, even with a 3rd Heathrow runway. The number of British cities served by Heathrow has fallen from 18 routes in 1990 to just 7 today. Teesside has not had a London connection since 2009 when flights from Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA) to Heathrow were scrapped. Boris has written to 11 regions and more than 480 key UK businesses to highlight the “staggering” fact the Airports Commission’s own analysis has forecast that an expanded Heathrow would accommodate even fewer domestic routes. This would mean there would only be 4 regional airports with Heathrow flights, rather than 7 now. It is therefore increasingly unlikely DTVA will regain its connection. Boris, of course, instead wants his “Boris Island” airport in the Thames estuary …People in Teeside can already fly to Amsterdam or Schiphol to connect to international flights. DVTA wants to reposition itself to focus on business routes, expanding general aviation activity and broadening the base of aviation-related activity on the site – to stay afloat.
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and earlier:
BORIS JOHNSON: HEATHROW THIRD RUNWAY WOULD HIT REGIONAL FLIGHT LINKS
31.7.2015 (Evening Express)
London’s Mayor has launched a fresh attack against a third runway at Heathrow, claiming it would hit flights between the airport and the rest of the UK.
Boris Johnson said almost half of UK flights from Heathrow were set for the “scrapheap” if the expansion is given the go-ahead by the Government.
He said information “buried deep” in the final report from the Airports Commission earlier this month revealed an “astonishing” forecast that a three-runway Heathrow would see regional links decline, with routes to only four UK destinations.
He has written to regional leaders and urged the Government to explain which cities currently served by Heathrow would retain links if a third runway is built.
Mr Johnson said: “The final decision on where to provide new aviation capacity needs to be in the interest of the entire country and this astonishing admission makes clear that a third runway at Heathrow would fail that test on every count.
“The hoax that it would be of benefit to our regions has been thoroughly exposed, and it is now clear that even the existing UK links to and from Heathrow are under threat.
“The only long-term solution to Britain’s aviation needs is a hub airport with the potential for multiple runways and the spare capacity to allow domestic routes to flourish. It is what our global rivals are doing, it is the right thing to do, and it is what must happen here.”
Mr Johnson unsuccessfully argued for a new airport to be built in the Thames Estuary.
A Heathrow spokesman said: “The Mayor of London is absolutely right that Heathrow expansion must deliver UK-wide economic growth and it will. Heathrow has already proposed measures to grow its domestic network, measures which the Airports Commission assess could ‘markedly improve UK regional connections to the hub airport’ and ‘reverse the trend of declining links between London and the rest of the UK’.
“Public Service Obligation routes cannot only deliver UK-wide economic growth, but their likely cost is small compared to the estimated £100 billion of public money needed to build the mayor’s new airport in the Thames Estuary and will be repaid many times over in the form of 180,000 new jobs and £211 billion in economic growth across the UK.”