New research conducted by London Stansted and Cambridge& reveals that £185 million in fresh investment could be unlocked with the introduction of new US routes from the airport.
Businesses across Cambridge, particularly in life sciences, technology and advanced manufacturing, voiced strong support for new services to the business-critical destinations of Boston and San Francisco to sustain the city’s growth and achieve its full potential as it competes globally to attract high-quality international investment.
New services to Asia are also in strong demand to help accelerate trade growth, with Singapore in particular a key destination, as 21 per cent of Cambridge biomedical companies are already Asia-Pacific owned.
The report, Connecting Cambridge to the World, was presented last week to an audience of airlines, regional businesses, MPs and political representatives, and was the result of research on businesses in the Cambridge region representing around 35,000 employees, plus the views of CEOs and leaders of fast-growing Cambridge-based businesses.
Almost three-quarters of businesses quizzed anticipated their travel demand increasing in the next five years; more than 50 per cent of business flights would be moved to Stansted, away from other London airports, for quicker travelling time with direct routes to key destinations.
Services to key destinations of Boston and San Francisco would generate 50,000 new passengers in addition to those switching from other airports, the survey found.
And £185m of new investment would be delivered in the East of England by direct flights to the two key US cities, plus £85m in exports every year.
Previous attempts to sustain services to the US from the Essex hub have foundered in double-quick time for various reasons but there is a clear need to try again.
Gareth Powell, London Stansted’s managing director, said: “This new research makes very clear the compelling case for new direct services to link Cambridge, via London Stansted, to global centres of excellence in high value sectors like technology, life sciences and advanced manufacturing.
“Connecting the region to the likes of Boston and San Francisco, in the US, and Singapore and China, in Asia, would result in a significant economic dividend being unlocked for the region, further accelerating the growth that is forecast for the years ahead.
“We have spare capacity at Stansted, and not only do we need to use it in the most sustainable way, but also so it has the maximum economic impact.”
Harriet Fear MBE, Director at Cambridge& added: “Cambridge& is delighted to partner with Stansted on this important research, revealing the strong demand within Cambridge and the East of England for long-haul business travel from Stansted, and the economic dividend this could deliver for our region.
“It is vital that Cambridge, unique within the UK with a burgeoning life sciences and technology cluster, secures new, high-quality international investment to ensure our knowledge-intensive sectors remain globally competitive. The possibility of route development at Stansted presents a strong opportunity to secure this investment.”
Abcam, which sells life science tools to researchers worldwide, is growing from its Cambridge HQ but has committed to quitting the UK stock exchange for NASDAQ in New York to better serve a growing US stockholder base.
CEO Alan Hirzel said: “Abcam is a global company headquartered in Cambridge with 95 per cent of our business demand outside of the UK. Efficient travel corridors to Asia and the US are essential for our company to continue to grow and thrive from our base in Britain.
“With our recent investments and facility expansions in Singapore, Shanghai, Boston, Eugene and San Francisco we are travelling more than ever, and yet, with few direct flight options available, we face up to two hours travel time to Heathrow each way, adding to the costs of our operations. We therefore strongly support alternative carriers and more direct routes from Stansted.”