The director-general of the British International Freight Association (BIFA) has said it is vital that the government stops procrastinating over expanding the aviation capacity of the UK and takes steps to move forward with the Airports Commission recommendation to build more capacity at Heathrow Airport.
Robert Keen welcomed the news that the government now has a new transport secretary (Liam Fox) and secretary of state for international trade (Chris Grayling), but said that since the Brexit vote the country has been faced with a huge amount of uncertainty politically and as such, the new cabinet must be ready to tackle the huge decisions that must now be taken.
\”BIFA will be lobbying the government and counting on it to show that the UK is still a confident, outward-looking trading nation, still capable of taking bold decisions that have a direct positive effect on the UK economy, its international connectivity and reputation,\” he went on to say.
Recent figures from Manchester Airport show that more than 100,000 tonnes of freight was shipped by air between 2015/2016, making it the best year for the airport since 2011/2012. This corroborated International Air Transport Association figures for April this year showing that demand for air freight is up 3.2 per cent year on year. As such, it would certainly seem wise for the government to turn its attention to expanding Heathrow, if this demand continues to grow.
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