Following victory for the coalition government, Cheapflights.co.uk, the UK’s leading flight price comparison site and consumer champion, is calling for more focus on aviation.

Aviation is absolutely fundamental to the economic and cultural health of the UK, as an island nation.  The government’s role is to provide infrastructure and incentives that facilitate its growth. The travel industry, a typically resilient one, has faced a challenging set of circumstances since 2008 and Cheapflights.co.uk believes aviation’s importance to the UK economy warrants it a higher priority on the government agenda.

“With a the new coalition government, new policies and new opportunities, we have every hope that Prime Minister David Cameron will give aviation the attention it deserves.  It’s hugely important to the UK economy, employing more than one million people and affecting almost the entire nation - we feel strongly the government needs to further address the issues the industry is facing.  We hope a new day for aviation is on its way,” said Chris Cuddy, Chief Executive Officer at Cheapflights.co.uk.

Cheapflights considers the following points to be key:

·      Volcanic ash - further research and public education into impacts on aircraft and flyable levels, as well as

·      Consumer confidence - moves toward recovering this, following a spate of shutdowns and the BA strike

·      Flight prices - efforts to control the predicted rise of five per cent by the end of 2010

With the ash cloud threatening to cause further, possibly unwarranted, chaos, aviation is a leading issue in the public consciousness, which the government must recognise and respond to.  Cheapflights urges the coalition government to make this a priority.