What recent assessment he has made of the role and importance of the aviation sector in Wales.

What recent assessment he has made of the role and importance of the aviation sector in Wales.

What recent assessment he has made of the role and importance of the aviation sector in Wales.

The aviation sector is vital to the Welsh economy, and I was pleased to see so many Welsh businesses represented at the Paris air show last month.

Does the Secretary of State agree that the UK’s overall aviation strategy is there to support more jobs, exciting top-end engineering and ensuring we have a strong technology base in this country?

Yes, the United Kingdom aerospace industry is the second largest in the world, and is by far the largest in Europe, and it contributes some £24 billion per annum to the UK economy. The Government have set out our strategic vision for the UK’s civil aerospace sector in the aerospace industrial strategy, which includes Government investment of £2 billion over the next seven years.

Does my right hon. Friend think it is a good use of taxpayers’ money to buy Cardiff International airport?

That is entirely a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government, who have purchased it at a cost of £52 million. Clearly Cardiff does need an international airport, and I very much hope it will develop under the Welsh Government’s tutelage.

I am sure my right hon. Friend is aware of the new terminal being built at Chester Hawarden airport in the constituency of Mark Tami, which will cater for small planes carrying up to 50 passengers. What benefits does my right hon. Friend foresee for north-east Wales, and for Chester as well, from having direct flights to Cardiff, across the UK, and to continental Europe?

I was very pleased to see that a service is being developed at Hawarden airport. It will clearly be extremely important to north-east Wales and the two enterprise zones at Deeside and Wirral Waters.

At the last Welsh questions, the Secretary of State was asked whether he thought Airbus jobs would be safer or not if the UK was outside the EU. He failed to answer that question. Will he answer it now?

The issue of a referendum on Europe has, of course, yet to be determined. Consultation will take place with all sectors of industry, aviation included.

Constituents have visited my surgery expressing concern at the potential closure of 71 Inspection and Repair Squadron at St Athan, with the loss of 75 highly skilled jobs in the aviation sector that are based at the station there. Will the Secretary of State talk to the Ministry of Defence to explain how the defence footprint, particularly in highly skilled aviation jobs in Wales, is shrinking? Will they make sure that that does not happen?

I am, clearly, happy to raise the hon. Lady’s concerns with the MOD, but I would say that when I visited the British Airways maintenance centre at Cardiff airport only a few weeks ago I was impressed by the fact that a large number of workers there were former RAF employees.

Does the Secretary of State agree that membership of the European Union is an essential precondition of the continued success of the UK arm of Airbus?

These issues fall to be considered in the debate about whether we should have a referendum on the European Union.