Airlines UK 2024 Manifesto
March 5th, 2024
Airlines UK have today published our 2024 manifesto. The second half of this decade is set to be a transformational one for UK airlines. The pandemic hit global aviation hard and it is testament to the resilience of our industry that today UK airlines look ahead with renewed confidence, whilst continuing to make a major positive difference in the lives of the UK travelling public and for our globally connected economy, linking the UK to hundreds of destinations, and bringing together our home nations and regions.
We are though, at a crossroads. Whilst demand for aviation grows across society – to meet friends and family across the UK and overseas, for leisure, and from business travellers and British exporters, we know that aviation can only grow to meet this demand if we stay competitive as a global hub in the face of growing international competition, whilst cutting our carbon emissions to net zero at the same time.
This is a huge challenge, but a bigger opportunity. The next parliament can put UK aviation on an irreversible path to net zero, creating new jobs in green industries whilst enabling UK airlines to continue to act as a growth engine for the wider UK economy. The prize is significant – not only the
400 local jobs supported by each and every aircraft based here in the UK, and the over one million jobs that rely on UK aviation, but also the thousands of new, high-skilled jobs up for grabs in those industries that will power our net zero transition, from sustainable fuel production across the country to those involved in making zero-emission commercial aviation a reality from the end of this decade.
Realising this potential for our country requires political ambition and clear-sighted policies which recognise that in today’s highly competitive global economy, we cannot take the UK’s position as a world-leader in aviation for granted. We should, however, take confidence from our history as a pioneering aviation nation and the strength of our airline community. This manifesto sets out how Government, working together with industry, can deliver connectivity, growth and net zero, driving down our environmental impact whilst grasping the new economic and social opportunities there for the taking.