Airports Policy

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 8:51 pm on 17 June 1985.

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Photo of Mr John Taylor Mr John Taylor , Solihull 8:51, 17 June 1985

As the protagonists of north and south take a short, compulsory break in these affairs, perhaps I might be permitted to say a word for the English midlands, and in particular for Birmingham airport. It is not in my constituency of Solihull—although it lies in the borough of Solihull—but in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Mr. Mills). I think that he will agree that Birmingham airport is possessed of uniquely fine surface communications—surface access as my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Wilkinson) described it.

Birmingham airport has a frontage to the A45, M45 continuum to the M1. It is on the crossroads of the M6 and the M42, leading to the M69, and northwards again to the M1. It is flanked by the London to Birmingham railway, a famous railway that has a marginal utility in the other direction as well. From the airport to the station there is the unique Maglev. The hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Corbett) accidentally I think called it a pneumatic operation, and said that it operates from the car park. Actually it links the airport terminal and the station using a unique piece of technology—magnetic repulsion providing the weight support for the vehicle and its passengers. On the same campus, in the National Exhibition Centre, we have the foremost exhibition centre in the United Kingdom.

The airport is a municipal one, and, under the ownership and management of the West Midlands county council, a splendid new terminal has recently been completed. I was involved, and pleased to have been so, in the municipal decision and subsequently in another place in securing some funding from the European Investment Bank. I pay tribute to the architect, Mr. Alfred Wood, and to the airport manager, Mr. Bob Taylor. In short, we have an excellent airport, well able to take its place in a free and fair aviation market.

Birmingham's ambition, which is a good one, is to consolidate a basic framework of scheduled aviation operations and, as an overlay to that scheduled framework, it can expect to provide a comparable amount of charter aviation and some general aviation as well. The Birmingham airport lobby asks only of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State that he keeps our merits in his mind whenever he considers and reviews airport policy. It is asking not for any favours but that he does not give its competitors unfair advantages over it. That is I think a very reasonable request for one of this Government's supporters to make of them.

I make one other request to the Secretary of State, and it is a more local one. I ask him, please, to hasten the transition to plc status and encourage private equity holding in the airport. However, until that process is completed, I ask my right hon. Friend to ensure that he protects the standing of Solihull borough council and its proper desire to see one of the most important assets in the borough move to the desired new ownership in a proper, responsible and organised way.