The Aviation White Paper and the Highlands & Islands Tom Matthew Highlands & Islands Enterprise

“The Highlands”

Inverness Medical Part of Johnson & Johnson Group 1,200 employees Exporting world-wide Staff travelling world-wide on a daily basis

Ensuring Access To Hub Airports “We cannot have a situation where the regions are denied access to London” Alastair Darling

Inverness Services:Present Provision Other Cross-Border Services: *Manchester *Birmingham *Stockholm

Research Into The Impacts Of Loss of Inverness-Gatwick Service (1) Independent study, undertaken in December 2001 This was before: * easyJet Gatwick service * bmi Heathrow service Based on loss of full service operator with additional services to Luton or Stansted

Research Into The Impacts Of Loss of Inverness-Gatwick Service (2) Short-run employment loss of 1,400 Full-Time Equivalent jobs Long term impact could be greater - not least through perceptions of the region being: “peripheral, with minimal interlining and premier routes from the South East” Impacts generally felt in “premier” businesses “Traditional” cost-benefit analysis cannot quantify the negative impacts in terms of trips no longer made… Yet when Inverness-Heathrow ceased in 1997, traffic between London and Inverness fell by 20%

The Findings In Context Impact equals one in every hundred jobs in the region Loss of “premier” businesses: *regional GDP per capita is only 75% of the UK level *under 3% of the region’s businesses employ more than 50 people Low population (434,000) means that business base needs to be outward looking-exports and tourism Limited business base means that we require the “import” of external expertise Impacts would be felt widely in geographic terms

Inverness & Nairn 43% Moray, Badenoch & Strathspey 29% Ross and Cromarty 18% Skye & Lochalsh 3% Caithness & Sutherland 7% Origin of residents using the BA Inverness-Gatwick service

Significance of Interlining In the case of Inverness: “some firms were there on the assumption that they could easily get to London and the US” (Alastair Darling) but….. The White Paper defines “London” as: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City

“London” Airports:Service Profiles At August 2003

Interlining: Gatwick and Luton Compared Source: CAA Data LTN GATWICK LHR

Possible Alternatives? Markets too thin to support extensive direct services to non-UK hubs Interlining opportunities at regional airports are much less than at south east hubs Surface access: only one direct daytime train between Inverness and London which takes 8 hours

Conclusions Air services to London generate very significant economic benefits Need a mix of services to London airports-no frills and full service This must include connections to hub airports, with adequate frequencies and timings Interlining opportunities are essential, especially where the remote airport has limited connectivity “Defined circumstances” for a PSO should reflect surface travel alternatives Good air services are essential to growing regional prosperity