Airports (Amendment) Bill [HL]

Earl of Caithness Excerpts

Friday 16th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Caithness]

My Lords, I start by declaring two interests. First, I think that I live in a more remote part of the United Kingdom than anybody in Northern Ireland. It probably takes me longer to get home than is the case with any of the Northern Ireland Peers. Secondly, I declare an interest as a former Minister of aviation. The slot problem at Heathrow used to appear regularly on my desk.

I have huge respect for the noble Lord, Lord Empey, who introduced this Bill but I part company with him on the reasons for it. I take a totally different view. I think that what he is arguing for represents pure self-interest rather than national interest and is against the commercial interests of the United Kingdom.

Let us look at other areas. What about the Channel Islands? They do not have flights to Heathrow; they have flights to London City, Stansted, Gatwick and Luton. What about the Isle of Man? That does not have a flight to Heathrow. You can fly to Gatwick, London City or Luton from the Isle of Man and you can fly to Heathrow—but you use Edinburgh. According to the noble Lord, Lord Empey, Edinburgh would become a hub airport because, in Clause 1(5) a hub airport,

“means an airport used as a transfer point for passengers from one flight to another in order to complete a route”.

Edinburgh completes that; if you fly from Ronaldsway to Edinburgh, you can fly to London. So that would be good.

If the Bill is introduced, could the noble Lord really envisage that Flybe would have to reinstate the Inverness flight to London Heathrow? I remember when that was cancelled. It would serve a number of us who live in the far north a lot better in some instances, although I have to admit that, while I was against the abolition of that flight, I find flying into Gatwick more convenient to attend your Lordships’ House than flying into Heathrow, as it is closer. Why cannot we have a flight direct from Wick? That would suit my noble friend Lord Maclennan of Rogart, John Thurso MP and me very well. There is a very good airport there; it has a long runway and is certainly a regional airport.

Belfast is rather spoilt for choice, as two different airlines fly into Heathrow—BMI and Aer Lingus. At Inverness, BMI at one stage flew into Heathrow, but it does not do so any more. From Belfast you can fly to Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick or Luton, so it has access to all the London airports.

There is also, with regard to the Bill, the question of judicial review. If the Secretary of State,

“may give to any airport operator”,

what about the case for Exeter, if it felt that it had been prejudiced by a decision of the Secretary of State? I would hate to be Aviation Minister and have that clause to deal with.

When the noble Lord, Lord Empey, was Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment in the Northern Ireland Executive, he would have raised his voice considerably against any restriction on the companies that he was trying to promote in Northern Ireland. The Bill tries to restrict the commercial decisions of those who operate the slots at Heathrow and, quite rightly, the Government are not involved in that. It was the saving grace for me as Minister that the Government did not interfere with slot allocation at Heathrow. Woe betide any Government who have to take on that responsibility.

The noble Lord, Lord Empey, raised the question of what was happening in Europe, but under EU regulation 1008/2008 you can fly to a region but not to a specific airport. The current system is right and to take it any further would give every excuse for the French, who are far more in favour of protecting their interests than we are, to restrict Charles de Gaulle. I remember as Aviation Minister having huge battles with the French to try to open up Charles de Gaulle to our flights. So let us beware that trying to protect one area of the United Kingdom could have unforeseen repercussions. I hope that my noble friend on the Front Bench will say that, however well intentioned the legislation might be, it is wrong and impractical.