Regional airports are losing the regional economies billions each year. In every region of the country except London airports take more money out of the country than they bring in.  This is caused by the tourism deficit in aviation – that is, the difference between what Britons flying abroad spend in foreign countries and what foreign visitors spend in the UK. In 2008 the deficit was over £20 billion. This means that, although airports do create jobs and bring investment, they are exporting even more jobs and hard cash as UK tourists flock to spend their money in foreign lands. And it’s down to short-haul, budget flights. There was no aviation tourism deficit in the early 1990s. It has been caused by the surge in cheap flights.

In any case, questions have been asked about the actual importance of the presence of an airport in attracting business to an area. The European Cities Monitor in 2007 surveyed 200 UK companies on the most important factors in their choice of location. Only 15% of companies mentioned transport links with other cities and only 11% cited international transport links.

It is surprising the amount of CO2 that regional airports collectively are responsible for.  In 2008 all regional airports (i.e. all the UK airports outside Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick, Luton and London City) accounted for 26% of emissions from aviation. If current growthtrends continue, this is predicted to rise to 34% by 2030 and  could be anywhere between 40% and 80% by 2050.

The mushrooming of budget flights has created unprecedented noise problems at many airports across the country. The statistics from John Lennon Airport in Liverpool will be pretty typical. The Merseyside Noise Study, 2004, found that 44% of people in Merseyside felt aircraft noise had become ‘definitely worse’ over the previous 5 years - a period when the local airport was one of the fastest growing in the country. It is the sheer increase in the number of aircraft using these airports in recent years which has caused the problem. Fifteen years ago many of these airports were lightly used. The fact that the local communities have not been used to the numbers of planes now operating out of the airports has exacerbated the problem and, for many people, changed the quality of their lives for ever.

Business is looking increasingly at the potential of video-conferencing. 89% of companies expect to use video-conferencing more and fly less over the next 10 years. Fast, high-speed, affordable rail can be a viable alternative to many short-haul flights. And the vast majority of flights at the regional airports are short-haul. The picture is consistent. Where fast, affordable rail services have been introduced there has been a significant switch from planes to the trains. .