| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
12.41 pm
Mr. David Stewart (Inverness, East, Nairn and Lochaber): I endorse the comments by the hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Inverness, West (Mr. Kennedy) and thank him for initiating the debate.
The Government have issued a consultation paper, examining integrated transport policies. The result of British Airways' decision, not only in the highlands and islands but throughout the United Kingdom, is a disintegrated transport policy. We must attack that head-on.
We also have examples from the Republic of Ireland where, I believe, 160 slots were lost after BA pulled out of flights to Heathrow. We have heard about the example from south-west England. Now we have the issue surrounding Inverness. Which regional airport will be next? Should we stand by while slots at Heathrow are sold off to the highest bidder in a global game of Monopoly? I think not. We must take into account the social and economic consequences.
My hon. Friend the Minister will be well aware of the weaknesses of the legislation as it relates to the current situation. The current legislation is covered by article 9 of the European Union 95/93 regulation. Perhaps this gap in the legislation relating to the safeguarding of slots should be picked up in the transport review that we are conducting, and perhaps incorporated in a future transport Act.
The aspects of the change have been well recorded. We are having a move from Heathrow to Gatwick, a reduction in capacity and a franchising out to another company. I am concerned about the loss of capacity--a loss of 50 seats per journey--and the 60 per cent. reduction in freight, which is a severe problem to industries in the highlands and islands.
There has been no consultation in Parliament about the decision. We were told what was happening a day before the decision was taken.
We are all aware of the big picture. This is about British Airways' links with American Airlines; it is about opening up Heathrow to more transatlantic and European flights. Obviously, there is much money to be made.
I have three questions. First, if Gatwick is so attractive, why did 2 million passengers and 10 airlines move from Gatwick after the traffic distribution rules were abandoned in 1991? Secondly, if British Airways has lost £8 million in the past five years--which is a matter for debate--why not send the cheaper British Regional Airlines aircraft into Heathrow? Thirdly, how does one answer the arguments of the business community in the highlands and islands about moving perishable goods when the new aircraft plant will have less cargo capacity?
I have received much correspondence. For example, Highlands Wholefoods in Inverness asked me what it should do about the import of its perishable goods if the change goes ahead.
I welcome the meetings that my hon. Friend the Minister has had with Councillor Peter Peacock, convener of Highland council, and the meeting that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland had with Bob Ayling, chief executive of British Airways.
Mrs. Margaret Ewing (Moray):
I must be brief; I thank the hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Inverness, West (Mr. Kennedy) and the House for enabling me to make a short intervention in this crucial debate.
The arguments have been propounded in the context of business and the tourism and passenger industry. The Minister should also remember, however, that those of us who represent the most northerly areas of the United
Kingdom have always advocated that the development of the highlands and islands be based on fair competition, and we are now witnessing unfair competition.
As a result of the removal of the link between Heathrow and Dalcross, it is almost being argued that we should return to a dependency culture. We do not want that because we want genuine competition. All industries and businesses in the highlands and islands base their success on the world-renowned quality of their produce, and all the businesses with which I have been in contact in the past few weeks have said that the ending of the link will affect them and their local communities severely in financial and employment terms.
Hon. Members have mentioned various industries; I shall mention United Distillers, because the whisky industry is very important in my area. In a briefing sent to us today, United Distillers says that it regards it as very important that the Heathrow link is maintained to enable it to sell its quality goods abroad. Small, medium-sized and corporate businesses are, therefore, united.
The Royal Air Force, which is also important in my area, uses the Dalcross link. Many of the families of the young men who come to serve in the forces in my area remain in the south of England, so those men and their families use the link, and they feel strongly that it must be retained. Obviously, the tourism issue is also extremely important.
I believe that the key issues in the debate are who owns the slots, who sells, who buys and what is the best legal opinion on the matter.
I draw the Minister's attention to the letter from Professor Trevor Salmon of the department of politics and international relations in Aberdeen, published in The Scotsman on Saturday. He said:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Ms Glenda Jackson):
I congratulate the hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Inverness, West (Mr. Kennedy) on obtaining the debate and affording the House the opportunity to examine these deeply important issues. I congratulate him on his generosity in allowing my hon. Friend the Member for Inverness, East, Nairn and Lochaber (Mr. Stewart) and the hon. Member for Moray (Mrs. Ewing) an opportunity to speak. If, by any chance, as a result of his generosity, I do not complete my contribution, I will ensure that all Members receive a full copy of my speech and I will attempt to answer those questions on which I cannot touch today.
The hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Inverness, West highlighted the importance of regional air services for passengers and freight in developing economic growth and prosperity in some of the more distant areas of the United Kingdom. They play an integral role in assisting
and attracting inward investment, in facilitating exports and encouraging tourism, by their linkage with the rest of the world.
The current strong growth in regional airports and services is, therefore, encouraging. Regional airports have increased their share of air traffic from 29 to 35 per cent. in the past 20 years, and their share of total international traffic has grown even more strongly, from 17 to 27 per cent., creating a climate of confidence in the regional market for air services, which has been expressed in recent major developments in Edinburgh, Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham, and a completely new airport at Sheffield, which opened last month.
The growth in the range of services from regional airports is also encouraging. New services to London should be good for regional economies if competition on those routes keeps operators on their toes, drives costs down and pushes up standards of service. As competition has opened up, British Airways has become only one of a number of operators on many routes.
There has also been a welcome increase in direct international services from regional airports. Direct services provide a better service to the regions, whether for business, leisure or inbound tourism and help to support regional economic development. Although the picture is generally positive, however, we are going through a period of rapid change and development. Inevitably, some of those changes cause concern. When the subject is as important as economic development in the regions, it is right to address those concerns.
The transfer of the Inverness service to a franchise operator is in addition to a number of such operations from regional airports into Gatwick and Stansted. From the point of view of the customer, such services are visually indistinguishable from BA services, using the same livery and uniforms and continuing the ease of through-booking for transfer passengers. However, BA itself admits that the switch to franchise operations on the Scottish islands route has not gone smoothly--[Hon. Members: "Hear, hear."] I am grateful for that support. There are continuing serious concerns.
The main focus of concern in the debate has been the transfer to Gatwick. I must emphasise that the scope for Government action to preserve regional air services into Heathrow is extremely limited. The hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Inverness, West referred to slots and the European dimension. The allocation of slots at European airports is governed by an EC regulation 95/93. Its key provision is for allocation to be carried out by a slot co-ordinator acting independently of the airports and airlines, and of the member state. Under the regulation, Governments cannot, as a rule, intervene in the slot allocation process and must not attempt to influence the decisions of the slot co-ordinators.
Member states are granted a limited power to protect domestic services from busy airports to more peripheral regions. That would be done by ring-fencing the slot currently used at the busy airport for a specified regional service so that it can be used only for that route in the future. The extent of the Government's ability to ring- fence in that way is narrowly defined by the regulation and is possible only where there is only one service to any London airport and only one operator on the route.
I need not labour the point; I need say only that three operators on the Inverness route fly to three different London airports. British Airways argues strongly that
a switch to Gatwick has significant advantages for most passengers. Many onward international connections can be made with no change of terminal. There is a wider range of destinations in north America than at Heathrow. For those travelling into London, Gatwick has faster connections to central London--both the City and the west end--and direct rail connections with much of the south-east.
The hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Inverness, West also referred to the transfer of the Plymouth-Newquay service from Heathrow to Gatwick in March of this year. I understand that both passenger numbers and the proportion of interline passengers have shown strong growth in the first months of that new service. We have had correspondence with the European Commission on the south-west slot issue and answered its questions, and we understand that those answers are to the European Commission's satisfaction.
Serious concerns about Gatwick's suitability to serve the needs of Inverness and the highlands have been raised by local authorities, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland. As we have already heard, the Secretary of State for Scotland recently met Robert Ayling, chief executive of British Airways, and urged him to reconsider the decision to switch the Inverness service to Gatwick. I share my right hon. Friend's disappointment about the lack of consultation with local interests and, following my meeting with the Regional Airlinks to Heathrow group, I shall write to Mr. Ayling to make that point as strongly as I can.
As has been suggested, the Transport Select Committee may wish to comment--as is its right--on recent changes in regional air services. Let me reassure the House, however, that the contribution of regional airports and aviation, including regional air services, to regeneration
and competitiveness will be an important theme within the treatment of aviation in next year's White Paper. We are actively working on that aspect, with regional seminars in the east midlands and the north-east already behind us, and a national seminar on aviation and integrated transport to be held in London on 5 November.
The Government are already providing active support where it matters for aviation in the United Kingdom regions. We recognise that, in certain circumstances, some socially desirable air services may not be commercially viable, which is why the Scottish Office pays £350,000 a year to support routes to Tiree, Barra and Campbeltown on which public service obligations have been imposed because we consider them essential for the economic and social welfare of the communities that they serve.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland is also responsible for Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd., supporting it to the tune of £6.8 million in the current financial year in recognition of the essential role that its 10 airports play in the northern Scottish economy. Furthermore, my Department demonstrates its commitment to the development of the United Kingdom's regional airports through strong advocacy of liberalisation in international air service agreements. Airlines are already free to run services from any UK airport to elsewhere in Europe, which has been one of the main factors behind the resurgence of regional airports in recent years.
"the view of Karel Van Miert, the European Commissioner for Competition, appears to be that the airlines do not own slots. If this opinion is correct, the Inverness slot at Heathrow is not the property of BA to dispose of. Would a legal challenge to the action of BA over the reallocation of, and claimed ownership of, slots be worth pursuing?"
Is the Minister prepared to say that she will challenge BA on the legality of the transference of those slots?
12.47 pm
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |