‘Aviation has to grow’ minister tells UK airport leaders

Aviation minister Mike Kane assured UK airport leaders on Thursday that “your growth is Britain’s growth” and appealed to them to “judge us on what we deliver”.

Addressing the Airports UK conference in London, Kane insisted: “My job is to fight for you day in and day out and give you the conditions to thrive.”

He said: “If Britain is to grow, aviation has to grow. You have an outsize impact on our economy.”

Kane noted the economic value UK airports bring “is in the tens of billions” and said: “Your success is mission critical for this government.”

He suggested the government “will be judged by what we do in terms of Britain becoming a clean energy superpower”, saying: “We have to address our carbon emissions and aviation will be key.

“By 2050, as things are going, aviation will be the second largest emitter of carbon in the UK. I want aviation to grow, but I want it to grow sustainably.”

Kane promised legislation on a promised revenue certainty mechanism for investors in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production in the UK and insisted: “I want as much SAF as possible made in Britain.”

He told the conference: “You deserve a partner in Whitehall you can trust. Trust is not a given, it has to be earned. Judge us on what we deliver.”

Kane argued “we have to improve the marginal gains every day” on decarbonisation while suggesting: “The first zero emissions flight could be just 10 years away.”

He said: “I want to prepare the ground for me or a successor as aviation minister to say ‘All UK internal flights will be zero emission’.”