Transport Secretary Justine Greening met with Birmingham Airport officials, who requested that regional airports be more recognised for their ability to ease overcrowding in the south east of England, which is nearing capacity, according to a Financial Times report.
Birmingham Airport officials have requested that Greening formally recognise the ability of regional airports to contribute to the much needed airport capacity in Greening's aviation report next month.
The capacity available at regional airports offers a temporary alternative to building a new hub airport, industry experts argue.
“There are the equivalent of seven or eight runways’ [worth of] capacity spare at the moment. They present a more sustainable and cheaper alternative than building a new airport,” said chief executive of Manchester Airports Group Charlie Cornish in the Financial Times report.
Despite the ability of regional airports to provide extra capacity, many still argue that a single hub airport is essential if the UK is to compete for routes with the likes of Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam.
"The simple answer is that we should aspire to both strong and growing regional airports, coupled with a new inter-continental hub that is the amongst the best in Europe," said Jon Riley, a planning and aviation expert at Pinsent Masons," the law firm behind Out-Law.com.
"This constructive debate illustrates the problem with the Government's planned policy shift away from supporting airport growth at specific locations across the nation," said Riley. " People want to fly from an airport close to home, for business and pleasure. And many regional economies want direct connections from regional airports to their best overseas investors and customers, to maximise opportunities for growth."
"But that [regional connections] will never entirely remove the need for the significant additional routes and economic opportunities that a leading-edge international hub can attract. The simple answer is that we should aspire to both - strong and growing regional airports, coupled with the best international hub in Europe," said Riley.
