A NEW report details Heathrow’s value to the North West, including Warrington firm ATG Airports, as part of its support that see it delivering a £400 million boost to economies across the UK.
The report includes a case study on one such business. Headquartered in Warrington, ATG Airports has become a leading supplier of airfield ground lighting for both the civil and military sectors. Founded in 1993, ATG now employs 56 employees in the North West region and has worked directly with Heathrow for the past 25 years to manage the airport’s complex lighting systems. ATG also benefits from Heathrow’s air freight capacity to supply their technology to a global customer base, working with airports from Eastern Europe to Asia.
Andy Sole, Strategic Development Director at ATG Airports, said: “The size of Heathrow provides us with a reference site that is globally recognized and helps promote our business and attract new customers”
The study, which contains new research by consultancy Frontier Economics, reveals Heathrow is Britain’s “most valuable port” with more than £200m in trade and investment generated by business passengers flying to the North West via Heathrow in 2019.
It also charts how in 2021, as Britain emerged from the pandemic, more than £153 billion of non-EU exports and imports travelled through Heathrow while visitors travelling through the airport went on to spend £400 million in towns and cities across the UK.
The report: ‘Heathrow: Sustainable Growth, Global Connectivity’, charts the part Britain’s hub airport plays in the UK aviation sector’s £12 billion annual boost to the British economy.
And it details the importance of the global hub airport model to the regional growth of regions like the North West which is home to passengers and businesses who rely on aviation trade routes.
The report also shows that Heathrow and the aviation industry plays a significant role in supporting businesses with access to global markets and creating jobs in the North West, with:
- 66,000 jobs directly generated in the aviation sector across the North West.
- Leisure visitors travelling to the North West through Heathrow spent £37 million in 2019 alone.
- International students spending over £450 million in the North West each year, supporting almost 4,000 jobs in the region.
Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye welcomed the findings of Frontier Economics. However, he said growth could not come at any cost and reconfirmed Heathrow’s goal by 2030 of cutting carbon emissions in the air by up to 15% and at least 45% on the ground compared to 2019.
John Holland-Kaye, Chief Executive Officer at Heathrow, said: “Aviation is a force for good in the world, boosting the UK’s regional economies and lifting millions out of poverty through trade and tourism. But these social and economic benefits cannot come at any cost. Climate change is an existential threat to aviation and the planet and our industry must play its part by taking fossil fuel carbon out of flying. This is so that regional economies like the North West can continue to benefit from Heathrow and the aviation sector.
The publication of the new report follows the launch in early 2022 of the Heathrow 2.0: Connecting People and Planet strategy.
The strategy sets out how the UK’s only hub airport is driving forward net zero aviation and ensuring the local area remains a great place to live and work, including ambitious new actions and plans on net zero, air quality, noise pollution and waste.
