Examination of Witnesses (Questions 429-439)
WEDNESDAY 19 MARCH 2003
MR GEOFF
MUIRHEAD, MS
ROWENA BURNS,
AND DR
JONATHAN BAILEY
Chairman
429. Greetings. I apologise for starting late.
You have been very tolerant. May I put on the record the fact
that we very much appreciate your flexibility in allowing us to
rearrange the order in which we heard our witnesses. I am sure
you know that the order in which we take evidence in no way should
be regarded as any indication of our affection for the airports
concerned. Can I ask you, firstly, to identify yourselves?
(Mr Muirhead) I am Geoff Muirhead, Group
Chief Executive of MAG. (Ms Burns) I am Rowena Burns,
Strategy Director for the Manchester Airport Group. (Dr
Bailey) I am Jonathan Bailey, Head of Government and Industry
Affairs for the Manchester Airport Group.
430. Mr Muirhead, did you have something you
wanted to say to us? (Mr Muirhead) Very quickly. First
of all, as usual, I would like to thank the Transport Select Committee
for inviting Manchester Airport Group to give evidence today.
We do welcome the opportunity to discuss the issues faced by the
industry at this time. The Committee's Inquiry into aviation is
timely; it offers an excellent opportunity to review some critical
areas of national aviation policy in the context of the forthcoming
Government White Paper. MAG operates four airports. I was going
to say "London Manchester" and "London East Midlands",
because it seems to be the thing to say, but it is Manchester,
East Midlands, Humberside and Bournemouth. We are the UK's second-largest
airport with about 26,000 people employed at our airports, with
many more supported nationally in jobs. The airport group currently
handles about 23 million passengers per year to destinations throughout
the world. MAG is proud of the contribution that it makes to Britain's
economic and social development, particularly in the regions which
we serve, but we would like to do more. As well as growing our
business at East Midlands, Humberside and Bournemouth, we want
to develop Manchester's role as a hub airport serving the north
of England. We believe the Government can help through ensuring
that the planning framework is integrated so that road, rail and
aviation development are co-ordinated. We support the concept
of sustainable growth in air transport. In this context massive
improvement in public transport access to airports is vital to
achieve growth which is truly sustainable. With regard to taxation,
we intend to engage in dialogue with Government and will contribute
to the debate through responding to the paper recently published
jointly by the Treasury and the DfT, concerning the use of economic
instruments in aviation. We believe a key aim must be to ensure
that aviation can compete on a level playing field, both within
and outside the United Kingdom. Above all, we believe that a key
objective of government air service policy should be to restore
the UK's world leading role in aviation. We believe that can only
be achieved through enabling the air transport industry to grow
by allowing sufficient airport infrastructure to be built to accommodate
demand. We look forward to a White Paper being published at the
end of this year (further judicial reviews notwithstanding) and
we hope it will deliver the necessary platform for growth over
the next 30 years. We hope for a paper which will truly encompass
the principles of sustainability with an appropriate balance between
economic and social benefits and environmental impact.
Chairman: Thank you very much.
Mr Donohoe
431. What difference would a second runway make
to your operation at Manchester itself? (Mr Muirhead)
Fundamentally, it is enabling us to seek growth through the availability
of infrastructure. It has actually created some interesting problems
as well because we now have spare capacity and airlines are more
able to take decisions to leave in the sure knowledge they can
come back. So while we have got rid, in the short-term, of capacity
constraints, there is an economic down-turn, especially when the
market down-turns.
Chairman
432. Have you had that happen? (Mr Muirhead)
We have had airlines who have left and otherwise would not after
September 11. They have subsequently come back.
Mr Donohoe
433. But the pluses far outweigh the negative
aspects? (Mr Muirhead) I think Manchester airport as
a business has always looked towards developing its business with
a commercial eye.
434. What you say, Mr Muirhead, is interesting
across the whole of the country, because if you create a situation,
say, in the South East, where you add a couple of runways down
there and then add a runway up in Scotland, are you saying that
there is potential for a down-turn in terms of how it would work? (Mr
Muirhead) I think it provides for pure competition in a more
balanced way than we may have when you have just got congestion
as an issue. (Ms Burns) May I just add two specific
positives? The first is that I think it did have some bearing
on the outcome of British Airways' review, which has been to place
increased confidence in the development of their network at Manchester
going forward. I think the availability of capacity into the long-term
has helped in that. For us, that, in turn, encourages our aspirations
in relation to hub development because, again, we have the capacity
particularly at peak to facilitate that.
435. What is Manchester's attitude to the idea
of additional runways, particularly the one in Scotland that has
been proposed and, more generally, the idea of additional runway
capacity in the South East? (Mr Muirhead) As we said
in our introduction, we support the principle of aviation being
developed in its infrastructure to meet demand within the sustainability
framework. If there is sustainable demand in Scotland and demand
in the South East then capacity should be developed.
436. What would you say are the key issues and
concerns affecting the successful, long-term development of the
United Kingdom's air transport system? (Mr Muirhead)
I will start but I am sure there will be other things that I miss.
Fundamentally, I think a policy framework which will give a much
higher level of certainty for the successful application and development
of infrastructure. A more timely process; it is always difficult
when airlines have a one-year horizon in their planning and airports
have to have a 10 to 20-year horizon in their planning to actually
meld those two things together. I think a much more certain framework,
in policy terms, so that at public inquiries you are not arguing
about the fundamentals of the case you are arguing about impacts,
would be a much better way in which aviation infrastructure can
be developed. (Ms Burns) I would also mention sustainability.
I think for the industry to meet the challenges of sustainability
would be an increasing issue for us going forward. In that context,
getting public transport access to airports right, particularly
for regional airports with the capacity on airport development,
is the heart of sustainability.
Chairman
437. What are you talking about—road and
rail? (Ms Burns) Yes.
Mr Donohoe
438. What is your view on the long-term growth
forecasts for air transport within the United Kingdom and, specifically,
in the regions themselves? (Mr Muirhead) I believe
our own forecasting would indicate that it is the best available
forecast on which to plan. Clearly, the further out you go with
any forecast the more difficult it is to say with certainty that
that will be what would happen.
439. What is it for Manchester? What do you
see, over the next ten years, as being the growth for Manchester
airport? (Mr Muirhead) We are talking, at Manchester,
of growth of about 5% to 6%. So in 10 years, at that sort of growth,
you would expect about 70% growth.
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