The UK aviation industry’s two most powerful business leaders will tonight try to convince an influential Holyrood group to back their vision for the future of air services north of the border.
Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate and his Heathrow counterpart John Holland-Kaye will both give presentations to the parliament’s cross-party group on aviation before taking questions from members on plans to expand capacity at their respective airports and increase connectivity to Scotland.
The pair are the principal players in the long-running debate over how best to develop air services in the south east of England.
Three proposals are on the table the extension of Heathrow’s northern runway, the addition of a new north-west runway at the hub or the establishment of a second runway at Gatwick.
The Airports Commission is considering the proposals and is expected to pass its recommendation to the UK Government over how to proceed within a matter of days.
Mr Wingate and Mr Holland-Kaye will have the opportunity to make the case for their respective developments at Holyrood tonight but the duo warmed to their task by launching verbal salvoes at each other.
Mr Wingate pointed to the £5.7 billion of public subsidy required to take forward Heathrow’s plans while Mr Holland-Kaye said his airport’s expansion would deliver 12,000 more jobs for Scotland than Gatwick’s plan would.
Mr Wingate said: “This is an important debate for Scotland, and the choice boils down to competition versus monopoly.
“Do we want to protect and strengthen Scotland’s growing network of routes by creating a competitive system across the UK, or put that at risk by creating a monopolistic mega-hub at London Heathrow?
“The Airports Commission itself found that in every future scenario, Scotland will have a larger share of the UK airports market if Gatwick expands.
“That amounts to 14% more daily scheduled international services from airports outside London and 50m more passengers through Scotland’s airports.
“On the other hand, the commission estimates that an expanded Heathrow will command a huge 86% effective monopoly share of the UK long-haul market in 2050, undermining the growing number of long-haul connections built up by Scotland’s airports.”
However, Mr Holland-Kaye said Heathrow was the answer for Scotland.
“Only Heathrow expansion connects Scottish passengers to business destinations across the globe,” he said.
“Gatwick flies predominantly to leisure destinations in Europe that are already well served from Scottish airports.
“Only Heathrow expansion gives Scottish exporters the capacity to get their world famous products to clients in every corner of the globe. Gatwick’s main airlines do not handle freight.
“Only Heathrow expansion will future-proof the Scottish tourism sector by making sure that Arthur’s Seat, Loch Lomond and Carnoustie are accessible to the new wave of tourists from Asia and the Americas. Gatwick predominantly serves UK outbound tourists.
“Only Heathrow expansion will see new flights to Scotland, with Inverness reconnected to the UK’s hub and new airlines operating on routes to Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh, keeping fares low and service levels high.”
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