{"id":21793,"date":"2020-05-29T11:24:06","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T10:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=21793"},"modified":"2020-05-29T13:06:08","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T12:06:08","slug":"for-the-nations-benefit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=21793","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098For the nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s benefit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00c2\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

More than two months on from the promised but yet to emerge government support for the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beleaguered aviation industry, Unite is warning that without urgent action\u00c2\u00a0regional economies will\u00c2\u00a0take a big hit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c destroying the prime minster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pledge to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098level up\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 the economy.<\/p>\n

Research commissioned by Unite highlights the vast\u00c2\u00a0economic contributions airports make to regional economies \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and details the devastating effect that an airport closure or severe reduction in activity would have on the local area.\u00c2\u00a0 An estimated 1.2m UK workers rely on aviation for their employment, many working in the airports, airlines, retail, services and in transport jobs associated with air travel.<\/p>\n

The report is published 24-hours after the sector suffered yet another blow as airline\u00c2\u00a0easyJet announced plans to cut its workforce by 30 per cent.\u00c2\u00a0 easyJet is a hugely important player for regional airports, with major bases at Gatwick and Luton.<\/p>\n

Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s research\u00c2\u00a0details how\u00c2\u00a0Heathrow,\u00c2\u00a0the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s largest airport, supports a total of 190,000 jobs across the UK and generates an income of \u00c2\u01419.7bn for the national economy.<\/p>\n

It also shows the economic benefits of regional airports to local economies. For example\u00c2\u00a0Bristol\u00c2\u00a0airport indirectly supports 15,000 jobs in the South West and generates \u00c2\u01411.3bn, while\u00c2\u00a0Glasgow\u00c2\u00a0airport is another significant economic contributor,\u00c2\u00a0supporting\u00c2\u00a08,200 jobs and generating \u00c2\u0141590m.<\/p>\n

Northern Ireland is particularly reliant on air travel to ensure connectivity within the UK and beyond. Its two airports\u00c2\u00a0Belfast International\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Belfast City\u00c2\u00a0are also\u00c2\u00a0major\u00c2\u00a0employers,\u00c2\u00a0supporting 4,000 workers, directly employed at the airports.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Wales, Cardiff is the principal airport, directly and indirectly supporting 2,600 jobs and generating \u00c2\u014193m for the local economy.<\/p>\n

Gatwick: worst affected? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Studies have suggested that\u00c2\u00a0Gatwick\u00c2\u00a0and the nearby town of Crawley\u00c2\u00a0<\/a>could be worst affected by lack of support for the sector. The airport generates \u00c2\u01412.7bn for the South East and directly and indirectly supports 43,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

But it is not just about the larger airports \u00e2\u20ac\u201c smaller airports including\u00c2\u00a0Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Doncaster\/Sheffield, Exeter and Southampton\u00c2\u00a0are all\u00c2\u00a0as vital to their local economies as their bigger counterparts.<\/p>\n

The new research\u00c2\u00a0Economic and social importance of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s regional airports<\/a><\/em>\u00c2\u00a0further develops the key messages found in Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own aviation blueprint\u00c2\u00a0UKaviation flying into the future<\/a>. <\/em>This gives details of the actions needed to be taken by government to protect airlines and airports and to preserve jobs and conditions in the sector \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which has been severely impacted by Covid-19.<\/p>\n

Bespoke package<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite is warning that without a specific bespoke package for the industry or risk losing tens of thousands of jobs. All airports are impacted and smaller regional airports may even be forced to close permanently.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAirports are\u00c2\u00a0hubs for massive\u00c2\u00a0economic activity for our towns and cities, supporting jobs from cabin crew and ground handling to engineers and cleaners,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 commented Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut they are facing huge challenges at the moment and need urgent assistance to secure a future where they can continue to provide important routes and support millions of direct and indirect jobs,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n

Holland continued, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe prime minister himself made clear on May 27 that he is committed to levelling up the economy, to spread the economic benefits more fairly.\u00c2\u00a0That really must mean helping our airports through these tough times as, possibly more than any other industry, they provide jobs and incomes in every corner of\u00c2\u00a0the country.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTo lose them or see them diminish as employers will open up huge holes in local economies the length and breadth of the country.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is crucial that regional airports are supported by the government to ensure that regional connectivity and local economies are not irrevocably damaged with mass job losses, especially in those parts of the country where\u00c2\u00a0they are a major employer or the heart of the economy.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

Holland firmly stated that Unite believes, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bRegional connectivity is a vital lifeline that needs to be preserved and enhanced through support for specific routes through public service obligation funding.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur airports are central\u00c2\u00a0to our infrastructure and vital for business, travel and even the NHS.\u00c2\u00a0 They must be\u00c2\u00a0preserved for the nation’s benefit.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

PROTECT OUR AIRPORTS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite is urging everyone living around an airport to contact their local MP to lobby the government on why regional airports and the entire aviation sector must have specific financial support<\/a><\/p>\n

By Barckley Sumner\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than two months on from the promised but yet to emerge government support for the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beleaguered aviation industry, Unite is warning that without urgent action\u00c2\u00a0regional economies will\u00c2\u00a0take a big hit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c destroying the prime minster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pledge to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098level up\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 the economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1308,17],"tags":[589,511,1295,1234,196],"wps_subtitle":"Time is running out to save\u00c2\u00a0our airports \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and regional economies, warns Unite","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21793"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21793"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21799,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21793\/revisions\/21799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}