Warning after report reveals value of aviation to UK economy
Aviation chiefs have issued a warning after a new report showed the sector is now worth £52 billion, providing 960,000 jobs and contributing £8.7 billion in taxation to the Treasury.
The study, due to be published at the Annual Conference & Exhibition of the Airport Operators Association (AOA) today, shows that all three elements of the sector’s contribution to the UK economy have grown.
AOA chief executive, Darren Caplan, said the report issues a warning to those wishing to restrain aviation.
He said "Given how crucial aviation is to UK plc, we believe that politicians should support our sector by: promoting and implementing the 2013 Aviation Policy Framework, to encourage sustainable airport growth throughout the UK; taking the long-awaited decision to expand runway capacity, by acting on the recommendations of Sir Howard Davies’ Airports Commission when it reports next summer; and reducing the UK’s current eye-wateringly high levels of Air Passenger Duty, which not only hurts passengers but also harms our connectivity."
Carried out by Oxford Economics, the report shows the sector’s contribution to GDP is £51.966 billion, which equates to 3.4% of the whole UK economy.
The largest single contribution comes from airports and ground services, closely followed by aerospace and then airlines.
Its contribution to UK employment is 961,000 jobs (3.3% of the UK total), with airports and ground services contributing 433,000 jobs, aerospace 327,000 jobs and airlines 200,000 jobs.
The new figures, for 2012, are all higher than comparable earlier data for 2009, which showed a contribution to GDP of £49.6 billion, to jobs of 921,000 and to direct taxation of £7.9 billion.
Diane
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