Tim Wood, Northern Powerhouse Rail Director, spoke to the Manchester Airport Forum to outline how better connectivity to the airport could power economic growth and opportunity for the North.
The North has a proud heritage when it comes to Aviation, George Cayley carried out the first manned flight in his glider up on Brompton Dale near Scarborough in 1853 and the world’s first ever official aviation meeting was held in Blackpool in 1909.
The region is home to seven international airports, carrying nearly 40 million passengers each year. At the moment, half of all long-haul passengers from the North have to take connecting flights to reach their destination, often routing through airports in the South East or on mainland Europe.
Yet the North has a major hub airport, with direct flights to an increasing number of international destinations in Manchester. If we can increase the number of people who are within easy access of Manchester Airport, we can increase demand for more international destinations, encouraging direct flights and reducing pressure on airports in the South-East.
Manchester Airport is the UK’s third largest airport. It is the only UK airport aside from Heathrow with two fully operational runways and provides direct connectivity to over 220 global destinations across Europe and through to North America, Asia and Africa. 
With a £1bn investment in new terminal and airfield facilities, Manchester has 50% spare capacity which can be leveraged to access key markets and contribute to accelerating growth in the North, whilst also relieving pressure on the congested London system, by allowing passengers to travel directly from the North.
The challenge is improving access to the airports, and that is what Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) will do. Manchester International Airport sits at the heart of the integrated NPR and HS2 Phase 2 network, and a new airport station will offer faster frequent journey times between the airport and a wide range of towns and cities across the North.
The figures from our business case work show that the combined impact of HS2 and NPR mean that the population of the North able to access the new Manchester Airport Station within an hour increases from 2m today, to 4.7m with HS2 and NPR, and within 90 minutes by 4 million to 8.7m – over half of the North’s population.
Businesses participating in international trade will see the most benefit from improvements in international connectivity. A key challenge however is allowing these businesses to take advantage of the North’s prime capabilities. To achieve this, connectivity needs to be easier, cheaper, faster and more reliable to travel to and from the North’s gateways.
The Northern Powerhouse and India report predicts that a direct flight to Mumbai will bring a £400m boost to the region over the next five years, and 2,000 new jobs are expected to be created through Indian firms establishing themselves in the North.
NPR will not only encourage the further development of long-haul and business routes from Manchester, but also mitigate pressure on the constrained London system and transport networks by providing opportunities for air passengers from the North.
In addition to improving the passenger experience to encourage business growth, it’s also important to increase the capacity for freight. At the moment 11% of UK air freight is cleared by customs in the North, but only 4% is actually flown from the North. Increasing the amount of freight that can fly directly from the North will decrease congestion on our roads and helps to add to demand for international connections.
Work to progress Northern Powerhouse Rail is moving at pace and throughout 2019/20 we’ll continue to deliver significant progress.
During this time, important, collective decisions will be made with our Members about how and when to bring forward the construction. This will enable us to progress towards an Outline Business Case demonstrating affordability and deliverability of the whole project.
Over the coming months we will continue to work with our stakeholders, Partners and the public to make the case for this essential piece of national infrastructure, developing the scheme to maximise its benefits at a local and strategic level.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the North, but one that the people of the North deserve, after decades of underinvestment. For too long the country has been running with one engine, that of the South East – now is the time to turbocharge the North and rebalance the UK economy.
Find out more about Northern Powerhouse Rail here.