London Gatwick Airport’s recently established Gatwick Growth Board (GGB) has commissioned an independent assessment by consultancy firm Oxford Economics of the economic impact created by the airport at a local, regional and national level.
Headed by co-chairs Tessa Jowell and Steve Norris, the GGB commissioned the report to provide an evidence base for its work over the coming year. The first study by the GGB will provide new and updated estimates of the value added and jobs created by the airport’s operations and supporting activity, to map out where the benefits arise.
Other issues to be explored by the GGB include the impact of the airport on training and employment, the procurement of contractors, and Gatwick’s role in creating balanced growth across the UK. The results of the economic impact report will be unveiled in November 2016.
Jowell said, “Gatwick’s continued growth brings great opportunities for businesses in the region and nationally, and for employment and training at and around the airport, but it also brings responsibilities on the airport to manage its impact on neighbors sensitively.
“We will assist Gatwick’s management team to address the wider issues associated with Gatwick’s recent and future growth. The airport is now recognized as one of the most important infrastructure assets in the country, and its growth carries implications for the country as a whole, as well as for its local region.”
Norris said, “Gatwick’s growth from 32 million passengers in 2009/10 to 42 million this year, and the much wider route network it now handles, has broadened the nature of its economic impact to support business connectivity in and out of the UK.
“This first study will help to put this in perspective as the airport looks to the next phase of its growth so that the opportunities for training and employment as well as support for local and national businesses in the expanding supply chain can be best capitalized on.”
Stewart Wingate, CEO, Gatwick Airport, said, “Gatwick has strong ambitions to develop over the coming decade. Six years after we came into independent ownership, Gatwick Airport is now reaching the scale and scope to have much broader and positive impact on the UK economy.
“I look forward to seeing the work that the GGB will do to help us plan for the future growth of the airport in a way that will maximize the benefits at a local, regional and national level while also ensuring that we continue to be a good neighbor to the communities around us.”