Grant Shapps
Main Page: Grant Shapps (Conservative - Welwyn Hatfield)Department Debates - View all Grant Shapps's debates with the Department for Transport
Regional Connectivity
Grant Shapps Excerpts(4 years, 11 months ago)
Written StatementsRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Secretary of State for Transport (Grant Shapps)
The Department for Transport, the Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy have been in discussions with Europe’s largest regional airline, Flybe, which plays an important role in the UK’s connectivity by flying regional routes.
In a sign of the Prime Minister’s commitment to levelling up all regions of the UK, the Government have announced additional measures to support regional connectivity across the UK, to ensure all corners of the country drive the economy, and fully benefit from prosperity in years to come.
A review of regional connectivity will ensure all nations and regions of the UK have the domestic transport connections local communities rely on—including regional services from local airports. This review, led by DfT, will consider all options to ensure we continue to have good regional connectivity. The DfT will work closely with the aviation industry, local regions and devolved nations to identify how we can support connectivity.
As part of this work and ahead of the March Budget, the Treasury will also be reviewing air passenger duty (APD) to ensure regional connectivity is supported while meeting the UK’s climate change commitments to meet net zero by 2050.
The outcomes of these reviews will benefit the entire industry, passengers, communities, regions and nations across the UK.
These measures featured in discussions between the Department for Transport, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and HM Treasury and Europe’s largest regional airline, Flybe, which plays an important role in the UK’s connectivity.
HMG was notified about the difficulties of Flybe on 11 January, and since then we have worked intensively with the company to understand their financial position and explore options. In the light of these discussions, the management and shareholders on 14 January took action to set Flybe on a recovery path.
[HCWS38]