Manchester Airports Group on government action over runway capacities
Manchester Airports Group has been calling on the government to take action over supporting current runways.
Debate has taken place for some years over the expansion of airports in the UK and in particular the new runway for London.
Tim Hawkins, Director of Corporate Affairs, says there has been much less discussion on how we use existing capacity effectively and how this fits with an industrial and societal strategy for re-balancing the UK's economy. He stated that Manchester and Stansted airports have significant capacity that is currently unused.
Tim was speaking at our ninth Future Cities Forum, The Making of the Modern City' this month at City Hall, London.
He went on to describe how:
'Airports are about more than just runways and infrastructure - they are about the value they deliver to the route network. The new direct Manchester to Beijing route has increased trade with China and is already stimulating investment enquiries calculated to be worth another 1,000 jobs.
'The start of an Emirates long haul route from Stansted will be important for the technology and life sciences business clusters around Cambridge and in the east of England, because businesses will now not have to travel to London or Heathrow.'
Watch Tim's video clip above from our City Hall, London conference.