Aviation, Travel and Tourism Industries

Navendu Mishra Excerpts

Thursday 10th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Navendu Mishra (Stockport) (Lab)]

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

I am grateful for this debate being called at a time when there is so much uncertainty in both the aviation and tourism sectors. I pay tribute to my union, Unite, for continuously standing up for this sector, particularly during this difficult time. I also want to draw attention to Manchester Airport, which is owned by the 10 local authorities in Greater Manchester. A good model of a publicly owned and operated service, this airport is one of the largest centres of employment in the north-west, with more than 22,000 people directly employed on site, supporting a further 45,000 jobs in the north-west of England. The airport secures Greater Manchester’s position as a hub of trade and investment.

In this House, we all know the devastating impact that this pandemic has had, from the loss of family members and friends to the closure of businesses and the loss of jobs, but it now feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel. As the economy starts to reopen and vaccines have been rolled out, there is a real feeling of hope that we will be able to beat this virus. Unfortunately, for those in the aviation and tourism sectors, the uncertainty that has so defined the past year and a half remains.

As we know, before the pandemic, the UK had the largest aviation network in Europe and the third biggest in the world, yet the sector has been neglected by Government covid policy. There has been the grave threat to jobs, an outrageous resorting to fire and rehire practices, and a complete lack of sector-specific support. The airport and ground operation support scheme launched by the Transport Secretary in January has not covered even a meaningful proportion of any airports’ costs or tax, which stands in stark contrast to the policies of our European neighbours. Look at Germany, which has implemented plans to provide additional monetary aid to its airports to preserve infrastructure and jobs. Look at France, where there has also been strong monetary support for the sector. Then we look at the UK, where Government support has been dwarfed by sectoral needs.

No sector operates in isolation. The knock-on impact of Government negligence can be felt across the economy. In my constituency of Stockport, the loss of dividend paid out to Stockport Council from Manchester Airport totalled £6.4 million in 2020-21. It is highly likely that there will be no pay-out this year to next, and the same is assumed for the subsequent year after that. Therefore, in the space of three years, there is a predicted shortfall of £19 million based on pre-covid airport usage that cannot be budgeted for and is not covered by Government grants. This is on top of years of funding cuts, in which the council has already lost 49.2% of its settlement funding between 2015-16 and 2020-21. There are also the additional costs that have been incurred because of the pandemic.

In March last year, when we first locked down, the Government knew the impact that the pandemic would have on the aviation, tourism and travel industries, so why did they not act then? Why did they wait until the last minute to provide a measly and inadequate support package?

Workers in the aviation sector have disproportionately high levels of job losses in comparison with other sectors. We know that the aviation sector is unique and that its recovery does not wholly rely on the Government’s decisions, but that unique uncertainty is all the more reason for a sector-specific job protection scheme.