CHAMBER OPINION CHAMBER OPINION


Up, up and away…


By Matt Roach (pictured), Managing Director of Exeter Airport


Aviation matters – it drives economic growth across the whole United Kingdom, connects us with the world, removes barriers to trade and supports jobs and skills. These are not my words but those of a


Government consultation launched earlier this year about the UK’s future aviation strategy. And they are spot on. Strong airports are economic engines that


attract investment, connect our businesses with other parts of the UK and overseas, and drive innovation and skills development. Aviation directly supports 240,000 jobs and


contributes at least £22 billion to the UK economy every year. At Exeter Airport, we directly employ around


300 staff but there are well over 1,000 people employed across the site, including the Flybe Academy which is a nationally significant centre of excellence for advanced engineering and pilot skills. The airport supports some


times from check-in to aircraft. Over the last three years we have been working


hand in hand with the region’s business community through our ‘Connects’ initiative to do everything in our power to deliver the routes and schedules that people want from their local airport. Connects enjoys the support of major


employers across Devon and the South West, and representative business groups in the region, including Devon Chamber. Through Connects we work closely with


3,000 local jobs and contributes £150m annually to the local economy, serving over 40 UK and international destinations, including major hub airports. Its position at the heart of the Exeter


‘Connectivity is absolutely vital, and not just by


regional business ambassadors to evidence, promote and stimulate air travel and route development from Exeter by having a common voice and a common set of objectives. If our region is going to stand any chance of competing against the likes of the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine, then connectivity is absolutely vital, and not just by road and rail, but by air as well. By working closely with


road and rail, but by air as well’


& East Devon Growth Point, including the neighbouring Enterprise Zone which includes Exeter Science Park, Skypark and the Airport Business Park, is a catalyst for quality skilled employment. So it’s good to see the Government


recognising that its aviation strategy needs to look beyond a third runway at Heathrow and set out a long-term plan for the whole of the UK. That’s because the UK’s smaller regional


airports like Exeter provide vital infrastructure support to the regions in which they are located. Not only are they drivers and enablers of


economic growth, they are an essential and central part of the proposition to rebalance the UK’s economy away from London and the South East to the UK’s regions. And they are much easier to use – with easy parking, fast-track security and short transit


organisations like the local Chambers, the Met Office and the University of Exeter, we can ensure that the airport delivers back what they need in


terms of destination growth. One of our key priorities is to reduce the need for passengers to travel long distances to other airports,


principally in the South East, by developing more frequency to other major hubs that we already serve from Exeter, such as Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin.


Manchester is also a growth market with huge


potential, and is already served with up to four flights a day from Exeter by our resident airline, Flybe. Codeshare agreements mean that passengers


can check their bags just once at Exeter and fly worldwide from Manchester with seamless connections onto long-haul flights with Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. In the domestic market we have seen the


benefit of Flybe’s London City service, which we facilitated with investment in fast-track security at Exeter to speed passengers through the terminal.


And last year saw the start of a regular scheduled service from Exeter to Norwich. This was the first UK route to launch with support from the Government’s Regional Air Connectivity Fund. This offers start-up funding for new routes to and from the UK’s regions and is of critical importance to enable airlines to overcome the short term start-up losses that thinner routes incur before they mature and become profitable. We are now encouraging the Treasury and Department for Transport to launch a second round of the connectivity fund as a means of creating sustainable regional air services. The Norwich route was the catalyst for a


Connects trade visit over the summer from Exeter to our sister airport in Norwich, hosted by the Connects network in East Anglia. A return trip is now being organised and we are looking to support more trade missions to stimulate business with other parts of the UK. All of this activity has contributed to a fourth


successive year of growth at Exeter Airport, with passenger numbers up 5% to 858,000 for the year ended March 2017. And the airport was named in the top five for customer satisfaction in the Which? consumer group survey of UK airports, published in September. Our objective is to sustain that growth, but our


ability to invest and add more routes is reliant on local people using Devon’s only airport. With that in mind we are keen to explore with Devon’s local authorities how we might improve transport links to the airport – especially along the A38 corridor from Plymouth – so that it is better integrated with the public transport network. And I have two asks of Devon’s business


community. The next time you need to book a flight please have a look at Exeter Airport first because you’ll be amazed at how many places you can get to. And if you already use Exeter Airport for


business or leisure, then please spread the word. It’s in all of our interests to pull together and with your support we can fly to even more places, boosting regional connectivity and economic growth.


Matt Roach is Managing Director of Exeter Airport, which is part of Regional & City Airports, the airport management division of Rigby Group Plc. www.exeter-airport.co.uk


November/December 2017 Chamber Profile 13


THE POLITICAL POLICIES THAT AFFECT THE REGION


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