Chamber News: Sky's The Limit

Bob Schumacher, Managing Director Sales, UK & Ireland, United, and Clive Memmott, Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

Chamber Chief Executive, Clive Memmott, cut the ribbon to launch United's new Manchester to Washington service.

The new service will open up a wealth of new business and investment opportunities between Manchester and the capital of the United States.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Clive said: "It gives me very great pleasure to join you all for the launch of this new United flight to Washington, D.C.

"For 17 years, United’s Manchester-New York service has brought the financial capital of the U.S. within easy reach and with it much economic benefit.

"United’s introduction of a second flight from Manchester underpins the city’s position as a thriving business centre and will be beneficial to the City Region and to the North West as a whole.

"It was also great to see Boeing bring the game changing, and very cool, 787 Dreamliner to Manchester recently as part of a tour of major European cities. As well as being beautiful and comfortable, it uses 20% less fuel than similar sized aircrafts.

"It’s clear that Boeing recognise the strategic importance of our airport, its ambition and the ambition of key partners like United.

"A dreamliner will be operating from Manchester one year and one day from now, through another operator, providing flights to Florida and Mexico.

"United are the first airline in the US to have the Dreamliner and are planning to acquire a fleet of around 50 eventually. This reflects United’s position as the world’s largest airline, following the merger with Continental, operating an eye-watering average of over 5,600 flights a day to 376 airports and six continents. The world’s most comprehensive global network.

"Our airport here continues to develop and prosper and passenger numbers grew year on year by nearly 8% to over 19 million passengers. International conferences and more routes into Manchester Airport helped boost the number of overseas visitors to the city, by more than 15% to 936,000 in 2011. International visitors to Greater Manchester also increased by 100,000 to 1.1 million. The more direct flights we get in to the city, and from the city, the more successful we will become.

"The airport sustains 19,000 jobs, together with a further 16,000 indirectly. It ships 110,000 tonnes of freight annually. This translates to an economic impact of approximately £800m in the region. The Airport City enterprise zone continues to progress well and this includes the exciting opportunity for new growth in health and biotech enterprises in the shape of Airport City’s Medi Park. The 14.5 kilometre Metrolink extension to the airport will open in 2016 and will provide a tram every 12 minutes between the airport and the city centre and connecting with other transport links.

"All this bodes well for the future of the City Region, our airport and its partners and, as I’ve just said, it’s absolutely vital that we continue to open up new direct routes to key overseas destinations. This new flight to Washington is another important step forward – it links us directly with the capital and the fourth largest metropolitan economy in the US – worth $425 billion in 2010. And let’s not forget it links Washington to the opportunities in our own city region economy.

"2011/12 was a good year for our regions exports, which rose by 7% to new record levels – China grew by 35%, Russia 48%, Turkey 42%, Germany 39%, but worryingly, exports to the US fell by 19%. It’s vital that we don’t neglect the relationship with one of our most established, trusted and stable trading partners, especially as their economic recovery is gathering real pace. Events like today can only help this. Conversely, a double digit rise in Air Passenger Duty in June can only hinder this and flies in the face of the Government’s drive towards more exports.

"I’d like to congratulate everyone at United and Manchester Airport who have worked so hard to make this happen and it’s a very great pleasure to be part of the launch today."