29 April 2021
“There is a national need to protect and enhance our strategic network of GA airfields,” said Aviation Minister, Robert Courts MP, in written statement to the UK Parliament yesterday.
“We will work with airfields to strengthen their economic and strategic value both locally, regionally and nationally by supporting their development, and promoting mixed-use where there are benefits from offering their unique infrastructure to the wider community including for business, education, cultural and recreational activities.”
Mr Courts’ statement was regarding the recently announced General Aviation Roadmap. It’s so rare that GA gets Parliamentary time that FLYER is publishing it in full:
“General Aviation (GA) is often referred to as the ‘grassroots’ of aviation and is the bedrock to our successful and world-leading aviation sector.
It’s worth nearly £4 billion to the UK economy, supporting nearly 40,000 jobs. The hundreds of aerodromes up and down the country form an important part of the nation’s transport infrastructure.
General Aviation provides the entry point for careers in aviation and is fundamental to inspiring the next generation of aviation professionals. It supports vital services from law enforcement to life-saving airborne medical and search and rescue teams, and provides future pilots, engineers and other highly skilled professionals a first glimpse of a potential career in aviation.
Therefore, it is only right that the government’s vision is for the UK to be the best place in the world for General Aviation as a flourishing, wealth-generating and job-producing sector of the economy.
Our ambitions remain high and we have set out our priorities and how we can achieve these in the government’s General Aviation Roadmap, which I am pleased to announce.
The roadmap sets out our vision and strategic priorities for the sector, alongside our ambitious programme of work that will help us to deliver this.
We will work alongside the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and our GA stakeholders to achieve these ambitions.
I also wish to set out the government’s view that it is clear from the success of our aviation sector there is a national need to protect and enhance our strategic network of GA airfields – to ensure they continue to prosper and drive the economic growth this country needs and to support levelling up right across the country.
Airfields offer potential for highly skilled, dynamic and innovative businesses to grow and flourish – for manufacturing and maintenance of aircraft, aviation services, and for research and innovation.
At the heart of these efforts, we will work with airfields to strengthen their economic and strategic value both locally, regionally and nationally by supporting their development, and promoting mixed-use where there are benefits from offering their unique infrastructure to the wider community including for business, education, cultural and recreational activities.
There are already several airfields within the UK, which share their infrastructure with a wide range of industries, as well as providing vital services to other government services. These airfields and many more are not just important to their local economies, but also critical to the success of the aviation sector.
General Aviation will also play a crucial part in our government’s focus on innovation and decarbonisation.
Trialling, testing and rolling out the next generation of zero emission technologies within General Aviation will support their development and pave the way for their wider adoption in larger commercial-scale operations – supporting decarbonisation of the wider sector and economy. This will help us reach our net zero target by 2050.
More widely, many aerodromes have been affiliated with operations during World Wars 1 and 2 and have since hosted heritage assets through the form of museums or have become designated historical sites. It is important these sites, which are so important to our heritage are able to thrive and grow to be enjoyed and appreciated by generations to come.
Our aviation heritage is rich, deep and rightly a source of great national pride. Looking forward, the government’s vision is for the UK to be the best place in the world for General Aviation as a flourishing, wealth generating and job-producing sector of the economy.”
[Published 27 April 2021]
Department for Transport General Aviation micro-site
3 comments
Good to hear , but let’s see it put into practice. Immediately stop airfields being sold to housing developers and closed down . Enable compulsory purchase of those recently closed , and reopen them for GA . Encourage applications for new sustainable airfields to replace those already lost . Actions speak louder than words .
I agree totally with you Karl, but it will never happen !!, every year we get that sort of news, nothing happens, the government needs housing , that’s the priority . what happened to the cross party government idea chaired by Grant (pilot) Chapps to help GA become the best in the UK ???
Yes , my local MP , who had a plane based at Panshanger I believe ( now sold for housing ) ! Does make you wonder about the integrity of such statements.