It’s worth nearly £4 billion to the UK economy, supporting
nearly 40,000 jobs. The hundreds of aerodromes up and down
the country form an important part of the nation’s
transport infrastructure.
General Aviation provides the entry point for careers in
aviation and is fundamental to inspiring the next
generation of aviation professionals. It supports vital
services from law enforcement to life-saving airborne
medical and search and rescue teams, and provides future
pilots, engineers and other highly skilled professionals a
first glimpse of a potential career in aviation.
Therefore, it is only right that the government’s vision is
for the UK to be the best place in the world for General
Aviation as a flourishing, wealth-generating and
job-producing sector of the economy. Our ambitions remain
high and we have set out our priorities and how we can
achieve these in the government’s General Aviation
Roadmap, which I am pleased to announce. The roadmap
sets out our vision and strategic priorities for the
sector, alongside our ambitious programme of work that will
help us to deliver this. We will work alongside the Civil
Aviation Authority (CAA) and our GAstakeholders to achieve these
ambitions.
I also wish to set out the government’s view that it is
clear from the success of our aviation sector there is a
national need to protect and enhance our strategic network
of GA airfields – to
ensure they continue to prosper and drive the economic
growth this country needs and to support levelling up right
across the country.
Airfields offer potential for highly skilled, dynamic and
innovative businesses to grow and flourish – for
manufacturing and maintenance of aircraft, aviation
services, and for research and innovation.
At the heart of these efforts, we will work with airfields
to strengthen their economic and strategic value both
locally, regionally and nationally by supporting their
development, and promoting mixed-use where there are
benefits from offering their unique infrastructure to the
wider community including for business, education, cultural
and recreational activities. There are already several
airfields within the UK, which share their infrastructure
with a wide range of industries, as well as providing vital
services to other government services. These airfields and
many more are not just important to their local economies,
but also critical to the success of the aviation sector.
General Aviation will also play a crucial part in our
government’s focus on innovation and decarbonisation.
Trialling, testing and rolling out the next generation of
zero emission technologies within General Aviation will
support their development and pave the way for their wider
adoption in larger commercial-scale operations – supporting
decarbonisation of the wider sector and economy. This will
help us reach our net zero target by 2050.
More widely, many aerodromes have been affiliated with
operations during World Wars 1 and 2 and have since hosted
heritage assets through the form of museums or have become
designated historical sites. It is important these sites,
which are so important to our heritage are able to thrive
and grow to be enjoyed and appreciated by generations to
come.
Our aviation heritage is rich, deep and rightly a source of
great national pride. Looking forward, the government’s
vision is for the UK to be the best place in the world for
General Aviation as a flourishing, wealth generating and
job-producing sector of the economy.
