A study by the Civil Aviation Authority found the cost and convenience of getting to an airport was a key factor for 55% of travellers, second only to the availability of preferred flight routes.
And a 2014 study by the DfT showed that four out of ten of the most congested rail services either start or terminate at an airport.
The opening of Crossrail will dramatically improve airport links in London. It will enable passengers to transfer between London City and Heathrow in under two hours for the first time.
Meanwhile, the Thameslink upgrade will greatly enhance Gatwick’s connectivity, both within London and for passengers travelling further north. In its failed campaign for a second runway, the airport claimed it would be “road and rail ready” before construction started. Users of the congested Brighton Main Line and the parallel M23 motorway disagreed.
Network Rail has said that airport passengers are often not the main source of pressure around airports, with non-airport-related passenger journeys having a much more significant impact on local infrastructure.
In a 2015 report into airport surface access (Surface transport to airports, First Report of Session 2015-16), the Transport Select Committee highlighted inadequate rail links as a major factor limiting airport growth. It pointed out that Luton’s lack of a direct rail connection explained why it had the lowest public transport share of any London airport.
Stansted
London Stansted served 25 million passengers in 2015, an increase of 40% since 2013. It has capacity for an additional 20 million passengers a year.
The airport sits on the West Anglia Main Line to Cambridge, an ecomomic area that has grown 65% faster than the national average since 2007. Yet 20% of passengers arriving by rail compares poorly with Heathrow and Gatwick. The airport states this affects its ability to attract a wider range of passengers and airlines. It says that a ten-minute reduction in journey time to London could be achieved within five years, with the right capital investment.
Edinburgh
The introduction in May 2014 of the tramway to Edinburgh Airport reversed a trend of declining public transport use. Before the tram started, 28% of passengers arrived by public transport. It has now risen to 31%. This has helped local roads to accommodate an increase in passenger numbers of more than one million over two years.
Newcastle
Newcastle Airport says the 1991 extension of the Tyne and Wear Metro to the airport shifted public transport modal share from 2% to today’s 16%.
Bristol
Bristol Airport has no rail access. And road links are poor - most travellers arrive through the centre of Bristol on the A38, and there is no direct route from the north, east or west. Despite carrying ten million passengers a year, it has the lowest public transport share of any major airport (just 14%).
Gatwick
At Gatwick, the airport claimed that 35%-40% of the benefits from expansion would flow to the local region. Business organisations were enthusiastic about the economic benefits -people who struggle on congested trains and on clogged local roads were less keen.
Gevin White operates a catering hire business with 20 staff on Crawley’s Manor Royal industrial estate, backing onto the Brighton Main Line on the airport perimeter.
“The problem is not in the skies, but down on the ground,” he says. “When my delivery people go into London they leave at 0430, because any later they get caught in the traffic. There are more housing estates being built all around, and the people who move here will probably be commuters into London.”
Andrew Gold runs Roband Electronics, an aerospace company in Charlwood, just beyond the end of Gatwick’s single runway. He employs 70 people.
