Restricting the expansion of the UK’s leading airports could cost the country 25,000 jobs over the next 10 years, aviation experts have warned.
Airports support 576,000 jobs in the UK, directly and indirectly, and contribute £22.2bn to the economy, according to a study published by consultancy York Aviation.
The industry could support about 672,000 jobs in 2015 and contribute £32.1bn of gross value added if British airports were allowed to grow to their full potential, the report says.
But if capacity is constrained, the number of jobs that airports support by 2015 would be limited to about 646,000, the Airport Operators Association-backed report warns.
The government’s aviation White Paper, issued two years ago, proposed four new runways be built at airports in London, Birmingham and Edinburgh by 2020.
But environmental campaigners and residents living near the airports earmarked for expansion have vowed that they will fight such proposals.
