NORTHERN POWERHOUSE CONFERENCE: Manchester Airport has outlined how it can help drive the creation of the northern powerhouse and called for a cut in aviation tax to attract more international companies to make the UK their European headquarters.
Ahead of the opening of the UK Northern Powerhouse Conference at Manchester Central, Manchester Airport managing director Ken O’Toole unveiled a video showing how the airport will look in 10 years’ time following a £1bn investment.
Subject to planning, it will see a new terminal building created through the expansion of the airport’s Terminal Two.
O’Toole said the project would give the North the “global gateway it deserves”. Manchester Airport now has services to more than 210 destinations, with direct flights to Beijing starting with Hainan Airlines in June.
O’Toole said: “It is 18 months since the northern powerhouse phrase was first coined by chancellor – and north west MP – George Osborne, and some good progress has been made.”
But he said the government could do more to fully unlock the potential of the northern economy, including reducing air passenger duty in the UK, which is double that of Germany and passed on to passengers through ticket prices.
He said the tax was deterring airlines from setting up as many long-haul services as there were from other major European airports.
He said: “Just imagine the Chinese firm hunting for a location for its new European HQ, which will create 500 high-value jobs. One great European city has a direct flight and one doesn’t – where will it pick?
“That is the impact of an anti-competitive tax that encourages connectivity in one nation but hinders it in another.”
O’Toole said the government should not only focus on where a new runway should be built in the South East, but on how space capacity at airports like Manchester could be used. Manchester Airport handles 23m passengers a year but has capacity for 55m.
He also called for more high-speed rail connections, saying it was “ludicrous” how Manchester was the only city you can get to within 30 minutes of Manchester Airport, given how close it is to many major northern cities.
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