Dr William McCrea – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr William McCrea on 2014-03-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the expanded Air Development Fund announced in the Budget Statement 2014 will apply throughout the UK: and how that fund will operate in the devolved jurisdictions.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Chancellor announced in this year’s Budget that funding to maintain existing air connectivity to London – first announced in the 2013 Spending Round last June – will increase from £10million to £20million per year, and would be expanded to include provision for start-up aid for new air routes from UK regional airports, including those in the devolved administrations, which handle fewer than five million passengers per year.

The Department for Transport is working with the Treasury to develop guidance that will clarify how the Government will ordinarily expect to interpret the European Union State aid guidelines on start-up aid for new air routes, and explain how the funding process will operate across the UK.