Civil Aviation Bill

I welcome my hon. Friend's intervention, and make the observation that that is indeed very true; it really is! I welcome the Bill and the emphasis it places on furthering the interests of passengers and the modernisation of the Civil Aviation Authority. I suspect that many of my remarks will already have been made, but there is no doubt that reforming the existing framework to slash back the rigid regulation and the burdensome bureaucracy currently in place is a positive step. Granting the CAA greater independence from the Government will take important aspects of aviation regulation—the designation of airports for price capping, for example—out of the political sphere, while enabling the CAA to take on the responsibility to enforce competition law will help empower passengers and cargo owners. The future of aviation in this country and the economic benefits derived from air travel that we have heard about in the debate will no doubt depend heavily on this legislation and subsequent actions from the CAA. I hope that the CAA will utilise its new powers wisely and act in a way that promotes competition to make our airports competitive and strong. We should remember that our airports are not just places where passengers and cargo are transported across the world, as they are vital economic hubs essential to jobs and growth in our economy across the country—not just in London and the south-east. As we have heard from many colleagues, regional significance is key. Ministers and the CAA must be mindful that while this Bill will support competition between airports in the UK, our airports need a regulatory framework that, importantly, lets them attract investment so that they can compete with their global rivals. Anyone who has travelled regularly overseas on business will recognise and acknowledge the improvements that many other countries have made to their airports. As we have heard, whether it be Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai and the Gulf or India, amazing things are being done with their airports. This brings us back to the point about consumer experience, but also the experience of business travellers. This is not about convenience alone, but about making sure that these are vital economic and competitive hubs. Many of the airports are impressive. They have expanded their capacity. Dubai, for example, built another airport in next to no time. Such developments make these cities and countries much more attractive for business and leisure purposes. Passengers who travel to various destinations are stopping off at these airports, which have incredible facilities—new runways and terminals, for example. This frees up capacity and enables our economic rivals to develop airport hubs. We need to wake up to this and learn from their experiences. We need to look at what has worked and what has not worked. It is amazing that some countries seem capable of building these airports overnight. We talk about being open for business, but if we want to be an economic powerhouse, we have to get some insights from these other countries. These rival airports offer ever-increasing numbers of destinations to fly to, so we have to face the challenges of capacity—not just at Heathrow, as the regional airports are also important. I do not want to see our airports becoming the end-point for global aviation travel rather than being an important hub. We must facilitate this hub issue and link up to worldwide destinations. I certainly do not want to see the UK losing out to other hubs, including European hubs. At a time when we need to ensure that Britain is open for business, if we do not act swiftly enough to come up with the right kind of aviation approach and strategy, we will lose out on international competitiveness. I hope the Minister will assure me that, observing their duties as set out in clauses 1 and 2, the CAA and the Secretary of State will further the interests of users of air transport services, will take all necessary steps to ensure that our airports are the most attractive places for passengers to visit, and will offer passengers more choice. As consumers, passengers want not just the best possible price but a good travelling experience. Over the years terminal 5 has overcome its initial major teething troubles, but I remember what it used to be like there for people travelling with families. Nothing can be worse than a dreadful airport experience, particularly for those travelling with young children. Such experiences can be really off-putting, especially when airlines are not co-operative in informing people about what they can and cannot take on board, and I hope that there will be some improvement in that regard. Innovation and investment are also key issues. I think that we can do more to increase business travel, and to help our regional airports. We in Essex have Stansted airport, which is not far from my constituency: it is 15 minutes' drive up the A120. Stansted has had an interesting time over the past few years, partly because it has expanded to become a hub for new airlines servicing the United States and Asia. That initially represented something of a trial for the airport. It started at what was a bad time for the global economy, when there was a lack of business passengers. I believe that the Bill can help to empower Stansted and other regional airports, so that they can innovate and invest in accordance with their own regional growth strategies at a time when enterprise zones are coming on stream.