Claim: “Why on earth are we exporting major Scottish products, whether that’s salmon or whisky or anything else, via Heathrow?” – Angus Robertson, SNP External Affairs Secretary, January 30 2025
Doorstep answer: Heathrow expansion will go the way of HS2. We should take the opportunity to create new Scottish export infrastructure through expanding our airports and ferries to Europe.
Heathrow expansion and Scottish exports: Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced her support for the construction of a third runway at Heathrow airport, already Europe’s largest aviation hub.
In her speech, Reeves referred to the beneficial impact on Scottish salmon and whisky exports as a justification for Heathrow’s expansion. She said: “According to the most recent study, from Frontier Economics, a third runway could increase potential GDP by 0.43% by 2050. Over half – 60% of that boost – would go to areas outside of London and the south-east, including increasing trade opportunities for products like Scotch whisky and Scottish salmon, already two of the biggest British exports out of Heathrow.”
Criticising the proposed expansion, SNP Culture Secretary Angus Robertson (below) asked the obvious question: “Why on earth are we exporting major Scottish products, whether that’s salmon or whisky or anything else, via Heathrow? Why is the UK Labour Government, when talking about growth in national infrastructure, delivering it elsewhere and not here in Scotland?”
However, the expansion of Heathrow has long been supported by the salmon industry. Commenting on Rachel Reeves’s speech, Tavish Scott, chief executive of sector trade body Salmon Scotland, said: “The Chancellor is right to highlight the role that Heathrow plays in supporting British business. Scottish salmon is the UK’s number one food export and is the airport’s single biggest export by volume.
Heathrow and Scottish salmon
Scottish salmon is the UK's top food export, with sales worth £578 million in 2022, outperforming bakery goods, chocolate, cheese, cereals and lamb. France, the USA and China are the top three markets of a total of 54 countries which import Scottish salmon. France is the largest market taking 53% of all Scottish salmon exports with 23% going to America.
In the five years to 2023, more than 115,000 tonnes of Scottish salmon worth £970m was exported from London Heathrow, making it the airport’s single biggest export by volume. Scottish salmon is typically carried in the hold of scheduled passenger flights travelling to international destinations, rather than on specialised cargo flights. This is in contrast to Norway, the world’s largest producer of salmon, where the country’s bigger export volume means that the fish is flown abroad on dedicated salmon cargo flights.
However, the airport is now operating at peak capacity. Effectively, the airport is closed to new traffic. A plan to build a third runway received parliamentary approval in June 2018, but has since been delayed by legal challenges. The project needs a Development Consent Order to go ahead.
Is Heathrow expansion bad for Scotland?
The SNP Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Heathrow Airport in 2016, with the aim of ensuring that Scotland would benefit from the airport’s expansion through guaranteed extra connecting flights. However, since then, it has become apparent that the Starmer Government’s interest in Heathrow expansion is tied closely to its vision for concentrating economic growth in the English south – witness the plan to create a “Silicon Valley” corridor linking Oxford and Cambridge.
Following Reeves’s speech, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Ministers need to understand the wider economic impact of Heathrow expansion on Scotland – as any further centralisation of economic growth to the south-east of England would be unacceptable. Enabling or supporting the expansion of any airport in the south of England must not make the potential for long-haul growth to service Scotland's trade, tourism or connectivity more challenging.”
Arguments for and against using Heathrow
Heathrow services a network of 218 destinations, including 110 which are long haul. It is difficult for any Scottish airport to provide this extensive distribution. Also, salmon is exported in small units so dedicated cargo services are largely uneconomic. Most salmon flies in the hold of passenger flights. Again, this gives Heathrow an advantage.
However, there are several key arguments against relying on Heathrow for salmon exports. First, there is a high probability that the proposed Heathrow expansion will either be a lengthy process or not happen at all. Expansion is complicated and expensive, involving the rerouting of the M25 motorway, constructing new tunnels and demolishing hundreds of homes. Reeves claims the extension can be operational by 2035 (a decade hence) but experience with other major infrastructure projects suggests delivery could take a lot longer, especially as the Mayor of London (below) is opposing it. All of which suggests faster, cheaper options based on expanding Scottish infrastructure and air links might be easier.
Then there are sustainability issues. The previous Tory government announced that by 2030, 10% of all jet fuel used in flights taking off from the UK must be sustainable as a way to reduce aviation carbon emissions. This target has been retained by the current Labour government. But sustainable fuels currently make up only a tiny fraction of jet fuel and reducing emissions may take far longer, never mind the extra impact of expanding Heathrow. One alternative is to improve ferry links between Scotland and France (the chief foreign market for Scottish salmon). Daily transport using electric, refrigerated trucks could replace the need for extra flights from Heathrow.
Conclusion
Scotland is the world’s third-largest producer of Atlantic salmon, after Norway and Chile. The industry is seeking to significantly increase production, tapping foreign demand. This opens the possibility – indeed desirability – of creating new Scottish export infrastructure.
Edinburgh Airport – Scotland’s busiest – says its priority is to expand its own worldwide connections, to the US and to hubs such as Schiphol and the Gulf. This expansion seems a faster and less risk route for Scottish exports than relying on the uncertainties of a third Heathrow runway appearing any time soon. There is also the option of using Prestwick for more dedicated cargo routes, with the aim of taking business from a crowded Heathrow. Prestwick Airport recently signed a deal with Royal Mail to attract e-commerce cargo flights leveraging Royal Mail’s extensive logistics network and Prestwick’s capabilities as a prime cargo handling facility.
Fact check rating: Angus gets 10 out of 10 for asking the right question.
