Aviation vital to UK

The travel industry is failing to communicate how important aviation is to the UK economy, warned Tory MPs and industry chiefs.

Anne Godfrey, Guild of Travel Management Companies’ (GTMC) CEO, said:  “The media and political narrative around aviation tends to be overly simplistic and peppered with black-and-white interpretations when the reality is much more complex.”

The comment was made after an aviation forum in Parliament, hosted by the GTMC and Conservative MP Kwasi Kwarteng.

A number of Tory MPs with business and environmental interests took part in the discussion, alongside representatives from British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and BAA.

The aim of the meeting was for industry figures to voice concerns around the pressures on aviation in the UK.

Godfrey said it had been a “first step in giving Parliamentarians insight into how this important but complex industry works, how the UK's competitiveness is wrapped up with our connectivity and the areas of policy where it needs Government assistance.”

She said Kwasi and his colleagues had “pushed hard” at the areas where the industry needs to improve. These included its communication with policy-makers.

Godfrey said that the GTMC had long felt that the polarised debate around aviation was “lacking nuance” and didn’t reflect the views of business travellers.

“I think most people recognise that the reality is not simply flying equals bad,” said Godfrey, “but that the industry contributes a huge amount to UK plc while also having serious environmental obligations.”

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