Britain has twice as many airports as it needs, the legacy of a short-lived boom in budget travel, according to the head of Birmingham’s international hub.
Paul Kehoe has suggested that airports such as Norwich, Blackpool, Doncaster and Middlesbrough face an uphill battle to justify their existence. Anybody listening to airports’ competing claims about their “catchment areas” would be left with an impression that Britain had a population of more than 300 million, he said.
Regional airports immediately hit back, saying that they boosted local economies but were held back by air fare taxes.
Mr Kehoe, chief executive of Birmingham airport, said that in an area stretching from Southampton to Leeds there were 20 airports handling commercial flights. The number of passengers passing through UK