Rt Hon George Osborne MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer
Dear George,
As Export Week concludes, as you prepare the Autumn Statement, and knowing how much importance you attach to increasing UK exports, I am writing regarding the Government’s forthcoming decision in response to the Airports Commission’s Final Report on London airport capacity.
A crucial component in the UK’s export strategy has to be global connectivity and provision of new airport capacity to allow businesses to export more easily. One of the key reasons why the Airports Commission recommended a new runway at Heathrow Airport and not at Gatwick was because of the critical role Heathrow plays in the supply chain of British exporters.
The Airports Commission recognised that “Heathrow is by some distance the most important freight airport in the country” and “Gatwick’s position to the south of London limits its effectiveness as a national freight hub”.
Heathrow is already the country’s biggest port by value, carrying more freight by value than all other UK airports combined, whilst Gatwick carries just 0.006% of the value of freight carried by Heathrow and only 0.0025% of the value of exports that Heathrow carried to Asia.
The Airports Commission concluded there was little scope for expansion at Gatwick to make any significant contribution to British exporters. Even if the unthinkable occurred and Gatwick began handling British exports in great numbers, it is not clear how infrastructure at or nearby the airport would cope.
Heathrow has the advantages of being at the junction of three major motorways connecting it with exporters across Britain, whilst Gatwick sits at the foot of one motorway on the wrong side of London for most British businesses. Moving freight by rail to Gatwick is out of the question as it is served by only one railway line which is already the busiest and most unreliable in the UK. The upgrades necessary to improve road infrastructure would blight local communities and unspoilt countryside at enormous cost to the public purse.
In your deliberations with Colleagues and officials over airport expansion, Export Week is a timely reminder that the outcomes from increasing airport capacity are not equivalent. Expansion at Heathrow will create an even denser network of trading routes for British exporters to take their products to an even greater number of global clients. Choosing to expand capacity at Gatwick would be ducking our opportunity to put Britain and its businesses back on centre stage.
Yours ever,
Crispin
Crispin Blunt
Chairman of Gatwick Coordination Group
HMRC data on trade value (2014, £)
EXPORT
Heathrow Gatwick Difference
Pharmaceuticals 4,586,309,921 33,858,746 4,552,451,175
Food and Drinks 625,323,619 25,603,101 599,720,518
Medical Equipment 439,594,966 3,337,618 436,257,348
Car, Aeronautical and marine equipment 2,765,517,577 58,048,211 2,707,469,366
IMPORT
Pharmaceuticals 830,096,401 2,033,686 828,062,715
Food and Drinks 557,339,479 24,454,820 532,884,659
Medical Equipment 384,793,083 2,749,455 382,043,628
Car, Aeronautical and marine equipment 1,951,604,167 126,195,355 1,825,408,812
Airports Commission: Final Report, p. 24
“It is not only passengers, however, that would benefit from expansion at Heathrow. Air freight is also an important contributor to the UK economy, with a particularly important role in supporting trade with countries outside the EU. Heathrow is by some distance the most important freight airport in the country, and its freight operations are very significantly bigger than those at Gatwick: around 17 times larger in terms of tonnage and more than 170 times larger in terms of value. Heathrow’s motorway links are also important; Gatwick’s position to the south of London limits its effectiveness as a national freight hub.”
The Gatwick Coordination Group was formed in June 2014 to represent serious local concerns over the proposals made by Gatwick Airport Ltd for a second runway at Gatwick Airport. The group includes local MPs and representatives of neighbouring County Councils, Parish and Town Councils and civil society.