Transatlantic Air Travel (Hansard, 15 February 1994)

§ Mr. Alfred Morris
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to conclude the present round of negotiations with the United States of America regarding a new liberalised air service agreement.

§ Mr. Dobson
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the current negotiations with the United States of America on the transatlantic air travel bilateral restrictions started; and when he expects them to be concluded.

§ Mr. Norris
United States Transportation Secretary Pena and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met on 19 April last year and agreed to try to reach a new, more liberal agreement within a year. That is still the time scale we are working to.

§ Mr. Alfred Morris
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the effect on revenue to United Kingdom airlines of granting United States airlines free access to United Kingdom regional airports and the effect on the economies of the regions.

§ Mr. Norris
The CAA has estimated that the revenue loss to United Kingdom airlines of granting United States airlines free access to United Kingdom regional airports is in the region of £23 million per annum. There are benefits to consumers and local economies in the regions although these are difficult to quantify.

§ Mr. Dobson
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what survey has been carried out by his Department or the Civil Aviation Authority on how many passengers per year from the Stansted airport catchment area fly to the United States of America from(a) Stansted and (b) other British airports.

§ Mr. Norris
The Civil Aviation Authority conducted an origin and destination survey at five London airports—Gatwick, Heathrow, London City, Luton and Stansted—between January and December 1991. Its findings were published in January 1993 in CAP 610, "Passengers at London Airports in 1991".
The catchment area of an airport is impossible to define with precision; this is particularly so when a number of airports serve the same locality. Of the 1.3 million passengers using Stansted to make international journeys in 1991, 18 per cent. travelled to or from points in Essex, 8 per cent. Hertfordshire, 23 per cent. East Anglia with the largest proportion, 34 per cent. travelled from or to Greater London. Comparable figures for Gatwick's 16.2 million passengers making international journeys were 4 per cent. Essex, 2 per cent. Hertfordshire, 3 per cent. East Anglia 728W and 42 per cent. Greater London. For Heathrow's 25 million passengers making international journeys the figures were 1.8 per cent. Essex, 2.7 per cent. Hertfordshire, 2.4 per cent. East Anglia and 54.9 per cent. Greater London.
During the London survey period there were no scheduled services to the United States from Stansted. A route to Chicago by American Airlines began in June 1992 but ceased in May 1993 having carried 65,000 passengers. Some 29,000 passengers travelled on charter services between Stansted and Orlando in 1991 and 20,000 in 1992.
No specific analysis has been carried out on the proportion of passengers from the Stansted Airport catchment area flying to or from the United States.