May saw the Scottish Chamber team visit London and, ahead of our flight home, we stopped off at Heathrow for a tour of the airport. The headline statistics are impressive, with 230 routes globally, and 2.8 million people travelling to and from Scotland each year via Heathrow.
The importance of these connections is a story I am familiar with, having used Heathrow as a transfer passenger when leading recent Scottish Chamber delegations to India and New York. However, despite having visited countless times, this was a unique opportunity to see up close Heathrow’s scale, post-expansion potential, and brought to life just how Scotland benefits.
The first stop on the tour was security, witnessing how the over £1 billion investment Heathrow has spent modernising its security systems, have made it easier to identify risks, reduce passenger wait times and remove the 100ml limit on liquids – a welcome end to the faff of the small plastic bags that all too often mark the start of a journey.
Walking into duty free, we were surrounded by copious bottles of Scotland’s best loved products from Whiskys, to an array of flavoured fudges and boxes of Walker’s Biscuits. At Heathrow a bottle of Whisky is sold every 30 seconds, a reminder that the airport itself is an enormous economic engine that benefits Scotland.
Our tour continued on the airfield, giving the chance to feel the scale of the airport’s operations, be that the near constant flow of planes taking off or the size of the airport’s cargo facilities. Scottish salmon is already Heathrow’s largest cargo export by tonnage and expansion plans would see cargo capacity increase by 50%, providing an opportunity for businesses of all types hoping to increase international sales.
As we circled the airfield, we stopped beside the runway for a closer look at the Concorde which, although no longer flying, is synonymous with transatlantic travel. Recent weeks have seen Scottish eyes firmly on North America, and this was a reminder that North America was and remains, one of the regions best connected to Heathrow, with 33 routes to the US alone.
While the Scotland team may not have made it out of the group, the Tartan Army left a lasting impact on the tournament, making friends from Boston to Miami and everywhere in between.
Economic surveys show that nearly half a billion pounds of tourist spend is generated each year thanks to Heathrow’s routes to Scotland, over half of which is from international visitors. My hope is that this will grow thanks to the ties made with Bostonians, and Americans more generally or the other nationalities who shared this memorable summer with Scotland supporters. The Scottish Chamber Network is already forging ahead with our Boston connections, with Moray Chamber leading the way by hosting a Virtual Trade Mission between Scottish and Boston businesses this October and interested businesses can register through Moray Chamber’s website.
And this is not just about the Central Belt, with Heathrow’s routes also serving the highlands and islands, enabling visitors to experience the very best of Scotland’s rural towns, businesses and landscapes.
Reflecting on a fascinating visit, I thought about Heathrow’s global route network, particularly to long-haul destinations which Scotland benefits from thanks to our own proximity and routes to the world’s most connected airport. As Heathrow marks its 80th anniversary, it has proven its track record in supporting global expansion for business across the UK and, as a long standing partner of SCC, help us support the international ambitions of Scottish businesses. With expansion plans including additional terminals and the rebuilding of existing ones, there are also huge supply chain opportunities for businesses like Glasgow based Merson Group, who have previously manufactured Heathrow’s traditional yellow airport signage.
The opportunities are there and, with a final Parliamentary decision on Heathrow expansion later this year, I hope that it won’t be too long until Scottish people and businesses are supplying, exporting and travelling through an expanded airport.
