Govt urged to place aviation 'at the heart of its economic blueprint for the UK'

Writing for The Times, Manchester Airports Group chief executive Ken O’Toole pointed to new research by WPI Economics showing there are 10 UK service industries poised to grow faster than the rest of the economy over the next decade, worth £10.6 billion.

However, the research also highlighted how these sectors are reliant on international access, which O’Toole said made the aviation sector "a critical enabler of growth".

His comments come after chancellor Rachel Reeves on Monday (23 September) set out her ambition for the UK to achieve the fastest rate of growth in the G7 over the next five years.

O’Toole said to achieve this, aviation would need to be "placed at the heart" of the government’s economic blueprint for the country, namely is new industrial strategy.

"As an island trading nation, we are more reliant on our international air routes than other major economies," said O’Toole. "If we don’t, as a minimum, maintain current connectivity levels, £10.6 billion could be at risk.

"If our starting point is the sluggish economic performance we have seen in recent times, we don’t just want to preserve the global access we already have, but enhance it in order to turbo-charge growth."