Clause 11 - Financial assistance: air transport services
Transport (Wales) Bill
4:30 pm
Lembit Öpik (Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Affairs; Montgomeryshire, Liberal Democrat)
I find the hon. Gentleman’s intervention helpful. It clarifies things and I am encouraged by the line of debate.
Hon. Members will note that I am supportive of a small-scale regional air network to connect the various parts of Wales for the small number of people who need to get from one end of Wales to another quickly. I also recognise that we are not talking about A380 Airbuses going from Anglesey to Cardiff but about small aircraft, probably in many cases twin-engine propeller aircraft, which may accommodate as few as eight people. The debate on Second Reading gave me the impression that the hon. Member for Leominster was sceptical about that.
I recognise that the hon. Gentleman has fought his case on his scepticism about the idea, but I am encouraged by the fact—I am not trying to score points—that it would seem that he has made up his mind, to some extent. Had he come to the view that it was a bad idea to provide the option of financial support for a regional air network and associated services, he would have proposed the deletion of clause 11. As it is, he has decided that he wants to delete a subsection of the clause.
The hon. Gentleman is also right to say that we had an extensive debate on a similar amendment earlier. I found that amendment curious. Will the Minister clarify his interpretation of the implications of the amendment were it to be passed? I have laid out what I think it would do, and will be interested to know what the Government think it would do.
The hon. Member for Leominster suggested that we are moving towards achieving a degree of common interest in having the good sense to allow the Welsh Assembly to make judgments about the viability and desirability of air networks. We covered the environmental considerations in some depth on Second Reading, so it is not appropriate to reopen that debate.
There are two important considerations in relation to the implementation of the clause that I shall address. It might surprise hon. Members to hear that there is already a thriving aviation network in Wales, albeit a small-scale one, which generally operates on a charter basis. The one that I know best derives from Mid Wales airport, in Welshpool, and uses aircraft such as the eight-seater Piper Navajo to transport people in and out of Wales on a charter basis. That growing business depends on there being reasonable facilities at Welshpool, and would benefit from further investment in the infrastructure of the airport. Some of that will happen because of the industry and the investment of the existing operator, Bob Jones, and some of it will come from the constructive partnership approach to investment that has been taken by Powys county council and the Welsh Development Agency.
Clause 11 would entitle Bob Jones to seek further funding for investment that he cannot afford and probably could not obtain purely from private funding, but which would necessarily increase the attractiveness of Welshpool as a business airport from which to base charter operations, and as an airport to charter flights to and from. That would clearly be in the interests of the population and businesses in the area.
The clause is useful because it does not exonerate airport operators from having to prove the business benefit of investments, and because it provides the Welsh Assembly with the opportunity to make such investments if it thinks that they are in the strategic interests of the locality or region.
The hon. Gentleman might be aware that there is already a low level of charter activity transporting people in and out of Wales and between north and south Wales. Indeed, various politicians have availed themselves of that facility, particularly during the general election. Although passenger numbers are not high, there is an ongoing demand for such a facility. I hope that in reading this Committee’s proceedings, the Welsh Assembly will recognise that all parties keep open minds about the viability of such investment.
The second consideration is not directly connected to investment in air transport in Wales, but, without getting too technical, there are other threats that could directly affect services in Wales. I refer to Eurocontrol—the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation—and navigation charges for general and light aviation.
I do not expect the Minister to respond today, but will he get his team to investigate the potential consequences of passing navigation charges, which are primarily paid by large airlines operating large aircraft, on to small operators? The cut-off point is aircraft with a gross weight of more than 2,000 kg, as those with a lower gross weight are exempt from certain navigation charges, but there is a threat that those charges will be imposed, and the drivers for doing that seem to be the large airlines. Such a move will make it difficult for the services that clause 11 is designed to support, because a number of charter operations will use aircraft weighing less than 2 tonnes.
I stress again that I do not expect the Minister to be an expert on the regulations and the proposed changes, but given their potential impact on what the Bill is designed to do and on what we might be able to achieve in the Welsh aviation charter field, I hope that he will ask the right questions and perhaps be willing to indulge in a dialogue outside Committee.
I shall be interested to hear the closing comments of the hon. Member for Leominster on this issue. I take heart from the fact that we have made some progress. Notwithstanding his scepticism about air transport in Wales, it seems that the Conservatives are willing at least to give the Welsh Assembly an opportunity to make a reasoned judgment on the future of air transport in Wales. That is to be welcomed.