Harnessing UK Growth

Ahead of the 2023 Spring Budget, Heathrow has put forward a package of measures to HM Treasury designed to boost UK growth and help all UK regions and nations unlock their economic potential.

As the UK’s only hub airport, Heathrow is the UK’s gateway to the world. With over 80 airlines operating to over 200 destinations, in all four corners of the globe, Heathrow connects the UK to international growth and opportunities. And as the UK’s front door – we welcome friends, families, businesses, trade, and investment to the UK all the way from Sydney to Seattle.

Prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Heathrow handled over 475,000 flights, £160 billion worth of cargo, and 80 million passengers moving through the airport annually. Despite being one of the hardest hit airports in the world from the pandemic, we are proud to have recorded the largest increase in passenger numbers of any other airport globally over 2022.

As Heathrow transitions from recovery to renewal in 2023 we want to maintain and strengthen our vital role in underpinning and supporting the UK economy, especially in the context of challenging global and national economic headwinds.

In striving towards growing the UK economy, Heathrow believes the Government should be ambitious in its policy making – seizing opportunities to assert ourselves as world-leaders, reverse measures where we are currently being outcompeted by our European neighbours and take action to attract and boost investment into the UK.

Our budget submission is designed with one goal in mind – sustainable growth. We put forward a package of measures to His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) in our recent budget submission covering trade & tourism, investment & connectivity, and decarbonisation & skills. We know these can all have a direct and lasting impact on growing the UK economy.

In particular we asked Government for six critical measures to…

BOOST TRADE & TOURISM:

·       We need HMT, Home Office, Cabinet Office and Border Force to modernise outdated legacy trade barriers in air cargo – bringing with it millions of pounds of investment, making air freight more efficient to compete with other hub airports, and removing 500 unnecessary movements that happen every day across Heathrow

·       We need HMT to re-establish the UK as a world-renowned destination for tourists through critical retail policies in tax free shopping and arrivals duty free. The UK could see an additional £3bn in tourist spending from a new UK tax-free shopping incentive and £100m from arrivals duty free

STRENGTHEN INVESTMENT & CONNECTIVITY:

·       We need Government to endorse private investment in our rail system, developing a framework for over £1bn private investment for Southern Rail, delivering more sustainable travel opportunities.

·       We need Government to overhaul the current BA/BMI remedy slot process - prioritising new domestic connections – and re-establish a regional connectivity fund to support and protect lifeline domestic aviation routes.

DELIVER DECARBONISATION & SKILLS:

·       To achieve net-zero by 2050, we must create a thriving Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) industry in the UK. To do this Government needs to commit a mandate for 10% SAF usage  by 2030 into legislation this year and deliver a Contract for Difference (CfD) to bring in investment. A new domestic SAF market is estimated to create over 20,000 jobs across the UK and deliver £3bn in GVA by 2035.

·       Government needs to reform the Apprenticeship Levy by making it more flexible, helping to deliver UK green skills and unlocking hundreds of millions of pounds for skills.

Heathrow is committed to playing its part in ensuring the UK economy is well equipped to face a range of global economic challenges. But we cannot do this alone.

We look forward to continuing to work with Government to deliver on policies and strategies for the UK: for our economy, our passengers and our global connectivity.