The British Aviation Group strongly supports the sustainable development and expansion of airport capacity across the UK, enabling our airports to accommodate future demand, strengthen the UK’s domestic and international connectivity and support investment, trade and economic growth.
Increasing airport capacity must go hand in hand with the modernisation of UK airspace and the continued delivery of the aviation sector’s sustainability commitments. Together, these represent an important opportunity to create a more efficient, resilient and internationally competitive UK aviation sector.
BAG’s members represent a world-leading aviation and airport supply chain, bringing together the skills, expertise, technology and innovation needed to help airport operators deliver new capacity while addressing environmental constraints and improving passenger experience and operational efficiency.
BAG stands ready to support responsible airport expansion and development across the UK, ensuring that investment in our aviation infrastructure translates into sustainable growth, opportunities for the UK supply chain and long-term prosperity for the country.
BAG Statement on Expansion
The UK aviation industry has rightly been recognised as vital to the Government’s growth agenda. In 2023, the total direct and indirect UK airport activity generated £27.1 billion of GVA and over 270,000 jobs – all while pursuing Net Zero and the sustainability agenda.
New runway capacity – together with the modernised airspace required to support them – is front and centre of that growth agenda. It is almost 25 years since the last full-length runway was built in the UK, and more than 70 years since a full-length runway was built in the South East. In 2023, UK passenger numbers were at 93% of their pre-pandemic totals, and most UK airports expect to exceed 2019 levels from 2025 onwards. Increasing UK airport capacity is long overdue.
The British Aviation Group (BAG) is committed to supporting airport operators in accessing the skills, innovation and talent that our membership represents to deliver innovative services to meet the expansion challenges and environmental constraints.
BAG is ready to support the expansion opportunity of increasing capacity alongside sustainability, and by doing so, furthering improvements to passenger experience, airport efficiency and the UK’s future prosperity.
