Re the 12m that Kehoe mentioned
Think we would all be interested to know what Kehoe is referring to. Perhaps he should explain it - can someone tweet him and ask?
Somebody did and here's the answer
"We have known that Hainan was going into Manchester for about a 18 months whilst we have been talking to them about our charter operation. The UK Govt have a massive focus on the Northern Po'rhouse and have been encouraging the Chinese to go to Manchester. So much so that through Visit Britain (from DCMS) and local tourism organisations in the north some £12m has been made available to support inbound tourism to that region. I asked the Sec of State if we could have some funding for our Chinese flight programme and although the Minister was initially supportive, he advised after discussions with civil servants that no such funds were available."
Initial tweet smacks of sour grapes which I'm sure won't wash well with civil servants next time either. Also makes the minister look silly. Better to keep counsel and discuss it behind closed doors with the relevant parties including local politicians and local MPs.
So re political involvement, there's a good example
FTQL Steve
You seem surprised that politics get involved in aviation. Of course they do. Everywhere. I guess most people will have forgotten that it was Margaret Thatcher who banged heads together over a 1/4 century ago to overcome obstacles so that American and Singapore Airlines could start their Manchester services.
Blimey, FTQL Steve, the whole thing is political and always has been as All names taken has explained. Why do you think MA have a department that looks at external affairs (as do other airports) that used to be bashing away at Government to influence their policies (and hopefully still is) and why they certainly used to go to all the party conferences to lobby not only national politicians but also local ones and grass roots party members.
You can't take the politics out of aviation nowadays - ignore it at your peril