Leeds Bradford Airport bosses call for extra support for northern airports in Budget

Leaders of gateways in all parts of the North have written to Boris Johnson urging him to recognise the importance of aviation and travel to his levelling-up and global Britain ambitions, by providing direct financial support to protect the industry until it is able to fully re-open.

Apart from LBA, the letter has also been signed by bosses at Manchester Airport, Carlisle Lake District Airport, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Doncaster Sheffield Airport and Newcastle International Airport.

Collectively, the airports handled nearly 50m passengers in 2019, supported more than 200,000 jobs and generated around £14bn for the northern economy.

With passenger levels having plummeted to just five per cent of usual volumes and with tens of thousands of travel sector jobs already lost across the North, they say the Government needs to set out how it will offer support to the sector while travel remains prohibited.

The bosses have welcomed the review of international travel measures in the Prime Minister’s recovery plan this week, but are warning it means it will be at least several months before airports start seeing any meaningful passenger demand, with international travel the only sector subject to further review as part of the plan.

Until the Government’s Global Travel Taskforce publishes its review on April 12, there remains uncertainty over whether the May 17 restart date for flying is possible.