Setting a strategic direction for aviation: The UK experience

Abstract

The UK government's 2003 White Paper ‘The Future of Air Transport’ provides a strategic framework for the sustainable development of airport capacity over the next 30 years. It has brought much needed clarity to the planning process and enhanced stability for investment. Delivering the White Paper presents particular challenges in the context of the UK's independently regulated and largely privatised aviation sector. Government has a crucial role in the facilitation and leadership of a wide range of delivery partners at local, national and international levels. Through this cooperative way of working, progress is being made on delivering the additional airport capacity needed to maintain a successful and competitive economy, while ensuring that aviation reflects the full costs of its environmental impacts. Delivering a nationally significant strategy, such as the Air Transport White Paper, requires long-term commitment, but also flexibility to respond to changes in political priorities, economic and social factors, and — critically — public attitudes and values.