Flight Cancellations

Lindsay Hoyle Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mike Kane)]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for an opportunity to talk about these important issues. It is unusual that we are doing so in an urgent question, not in an Adjournment debate, which is the debate in which he normally intervenes.

[Mr Speaker]

I have gone soft.

[Mike Kane]

I know that the issue of connectivity across the UK is of great interest to the hon. Gentleman and many of his constituents, as connectivity strengthens the bond between our communities. Cancellations affect passengers and businesses, who rely on punctual services and connections, and have an impact on confidence. It is the responsibility of airlines and airports to work together to minimise delays and cancellations. Connectivity across our country is vital; the Government jointly fund three public service obligation routes to London, including from Derry/Londonderry.

However, the UK aviation market operates predominantly in the private sector, and it is for airports to invest in their infrastructure and for airlines to determine the routes that they operate. I recognise the importance of Belfast City and Belfast International airports for local communities and businesses. The Department for Transport is actively engaging with regional airports, including those in Northern Ireland, to understand how the Government can support and unlock opportunities for growth.

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the Minister for that answer. Northern Ireland is an integral part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We would not have a United Kingdom without her, and Members in this Chamber would be a lot poorer for the lack of Northern Ireland. We are thankful to be a part of these British isles, and have fought hard to remain so. However, being a part constitutionally and being a part practically are very different things, and the fact is that people need to take a plane or a boat to come across to the mainland. Three million passengers travelled on scheduled domestic flights in the UK between July and September 2021, and the third and fourth most popular routes were between Belfast and London. We have a huge share of domestic routes, and the reason is clear: people in these parts of the United Kingdom have such strong links, and such a strong need to go between them.

Yesterday, a cancellation text was sent to passengers booked on a flight from Belfast City airport to London City airport. The passengers on that flight were not simply frustrated businessmen and women; they included a disabled person who had arranged special assistance, a person on their way to a health appointment in London, and a family getting a connecting flight to their holiday destination. We understand that bad weather can affect flight patterns, and sometimes these things are unavoidable, but my understanding is that yesterday’s flight was cancelled back in September. It is the flight that never was. They took our money, took our boarding passes and let us through security, but the plane was not there. It is quite unbelievable.

The person going to the London hospital was booked on a flight seven hours later, completely missing their appointment. For the business people, their day was gone. The holidaymakers’ connection had flown. Those attending Great Ormond Street children’s hospital or other hospitals missed appointments, as did businessmen and businesswomen—the whole thing was unbelievable. There were no announcements in Belfast City airport, although we were all waiting for the flight that never was—100 people from across Northern Ireland.

I could understand if this were an anomaly, but it is fast becoming a norm—one that will affect business investment and tourism in Northern Ireland. Procedures need to be urgently reviewed. There is to be additional air passenger duty; I hope that some of the additional money raised from people travelling within the UK can be used to ensure that airlines live up to their responsibilities and maintain connectivity as a priority. Thank you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker, and I thank the Minister as well.

[Mr Speaker]

The limit is normally two minutes. I know you are making up for that flight yesterday, and of course the House missed you—that is why you got the UQ.

[Mike Kane]

Business and tourism are vital for growth, as the hon. Gentleman said. We did have some connectivity problems and cancellations due to Storm Ashley recently, and I am sorry to hear about his constituents missing appointments, particularly his disabled constituents. The Secretary of State will lead work in this space, because accessibility on flights is vital. Belfast is still served by 22 to 35 flights a day, and I suggest that the hon. Gentleman takes the issue up with airlines and the airport.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Select Committee.

[Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)]

Last month, 18 flights between Belfast City and Heathrow were cancelled, and I can only imagine how difficult that must be for Members from Northern Ireland and their constituents. The previous Transport Committee, in its aviation reform inquiry, recommended that the Government revise the public service obligation routes and the subsidies to improve domestic air connectivity. Does the Minister agree that that is important to connecting Northern Ireland with the rest of the UK, and will he bring forward work on that?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I can sympathise with the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), and I thank him for tabling the urgent question, because we consistently have the same problem at Edinburgh and other Scottish airports, with a lack of connectivity and the disruption that that causes. I understand that the weather was a key reason for the delays this weekend, but another was delays at air traffic control, which is under pressure because of staff shortages and rising traffic. Eurocontrol, the main organisation supporting European airspace, has warned that to keep passengers safe and stop disruption better co-ordination is required between aircraft operators, airports and others across the continent.

Will the Minister tell me what conversations the Secretary of State has had with European partners on building resilience in air traffic control? Do the Government have confidence in the robustness of air traffic control in the UK to serve our connectivity properly?

--- Later in debate ---

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

There are no public flights from north Wales to London, so we depend on trains. Travellers on Avanti West Coast’s north Wales service endure chronic overcrowding, reduced direct services to London since covid, rolling stock breakdowns and on-the-day cancellations three to four times higher than the rest of the Avanti network. That franchise runs to 2026. What are the Government doing to make sure that Avanti offers the people of north Wales and their economy a decent—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Come on, that is not even linked to flights. It is about trains. [Interruption.] No, let us not kid each other—there is no point wasting time. Let’s have someone else who will ask the right question. I call Wendy Morton.

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

As the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) highlighted, reliable regional connectivity matters. When the Minister is looking at public service obligation routes, will he consider also looking at the transparency of the data coming out of those routes, at reliability, and at penalties for failure? It cannot be right that somebody gets the additional stress of a cancelled flight when they are trying to get to a hospital appointment.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

Thank you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker, which as has been outlined is important to many of our constituents. When we sit in the airport lounge and talk to people who have had flights delayed, we see their frustration. I suspect, however, that you wish you had cancelled this urgent question—my hon. Friend the Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) delayed landing it and took so long that I saw you getting increasingly uneasy as you were listening to him.

Increasingly we are finding flights delayed by one company in particular—British Airways—which has a monopoly on these flights. There is an economic lesson to be learned, which is that monopolies are abused. One has only to look at the price charged on some occasions, when someone could fly to Australia cheaper than they can fly to London with British Airways. Sometimes BA gives technical reasons or weather reasons for delaying a flight, but often it is because planes are not full and it amalgamates flights. Will the Minister commit to investigating with BA why the Belfast route is—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I think you are Jim Shannon in disguise. Come on, Minister.

[Mike Kane]

We were struggling to get the question landed; we have been taxiing for a bit, and now we are ready for take-off.

I do not want to pick on particular airlines, but I am discussing regional connectivity in the UK with airline CEOs, which I think is vital—that is the point the right hon. Member makes. I point out gently that Belfast International is a great airport to fly through, and it is well served, not just by a single operator. It has multiple operators serving multiple airports, particularly in the south-east.