In today's hyper-globalised economy, businesses must rely on rapid, flexible and direct access to markets. The last few years of political and financial uncertainty have demonstrated how interlinked our economies are, and communication between business leaders in these economies is vital for business growth. In our annual survey of European M&A activity , 65% of deal makers said building relationships and having face-to-face engagement remain the crucial elements to complete an M&A transaction. For this reason, business aviation is a vital tool in business leaders' armoury, helping them to be where they need to be, when they need to be, so that they can make decisions as quickly and efficiently as possible.
And yet as the aviation debate continues in the UK, policy makers' attention is chiefly focused on whether there will be a U-turn on a third runway at Heathrow or even the development of a new hub airport. There is one part of the aviation debate that should be heard and is largely overlooked: the role of business aviation in supporting UK plc.
One of the Government's main objectives for aviation policy is to ensure that the UK's air links continue to make it one of the best connected countries in the world, providing enhanced access to markets and new business opportunities around the globe. Business aviation forms a vital part of this. To put this into perspective, the Government's draft aviation policy framework notes that the UK is directly connected to over 360 international destinations with a weekly scheduled service, but business aviation services over 88,000 city pairs across Europe that complement scheduled services. And yet there are only brief references to the business aviation sector in the Framework.
A recent report from Oxford Economics, "The role of business aviation in the European economy", prepared on behalf of the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA), shows that business aviation provides a crucial complement to commercial airlines, and plays a key role in facilitating a recovery from Europe's current economic crisis, connecting firms across Europe. Without it many businesses leaders would struggle to be as efficient and productive. One business executive who contributed to the report said that with business aviation "four days becomes four and a half hours." To do the same trip without business aviation would require time-consuming surface transfers, or lengthy waits between flights at hub airports. Two thirds of business aviation flights are between city pairs with no scheduled connection.
The flexibility of business aviation makes it different from the scheduled network, which is based on economies of scale and concentrated at major cities. Business aviation offers thin connectivity - carrying a low volume of passengers between a larger number of destinations. It also plays an important role in supporting economic links to the emerging markets. In 2011 there were, on average, four flights a day between Europe and India using business aviation.
Furthermore, business aviation benefits local economies by driving demand in a much wider set of activities, such as maintenance, R&D, training services and hospitality. Previous work commissioned by the EBAA found that the sector generated a total of 164,000 jobs around Europe . At Farnborough Airport, in the UK, direct on-site employment is estimated at around 1,000, but an additional 4,000 jobs in the local area are part of the airport's wider supply chain. The manufacture of business aviation aircraft to local economies is also important - illustrated recently when it was estimated that NetJets' recent order for at least 100 new jets from Bombardier will help sustain 5,000 jobs in Belfast in the medium term.
Business aviation can help drive employment growth too. The report shows that the management of Paris Le-Bourget Airport expects demand for business aviation to grow twice as fast as GDP over the medium term. This demonstrates that the sectors relying on business aviation are those that grow faster, and as such the industry has a crucial role to play in facilitating a European economic recovery. Looking ahead, business aviation can continue to be a bright spot for investment in local economies - for example, Paris-Le Bourget airport expects to spend around €70m in the coming decade upgrading its facilities. The sector's appetite to invest provides a marked contrast to wider economic uncertainty, and the reliance of other parts of the transport system on public support for investment.
Business aviation has an important catalytic role in supporting European business. It connects industry and commerce in the UK to major business centres and beyond. It is vital that
policy makers understand the critical and unique contribution business aviation makes to UK plc as they finalise the aviation policy framework.