Let the world see the beauty of the UK's regions

As the UK’s only hub airport and one of only six airports worldwide serving more than fifty long haul international destinations, we deliver benefits for the whole of the country. Heathrow is a national asset connecting individuals and businesses to more long haul destinations than any other UK airport.

Additionally, 78% of passengers taking long haul flights from the UK depart from Heathrow. But Heathrow is full. Other European and Middle Eastern hubs are taking airlines that we are forced to turn away. This is not a problem just for London or the South East, if the UK loses its hub airport, then the whole of the UK loses out.

Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world, and we recognise the importance of allowing the rest of the UK to benefit from 70 million passengers who pass through our terminals each year. At the moment, around 13 million passengers a year already use Heathrow as their gateway to Britain’s regions; there is clearly potential for more of our visitors to see the amazing variety of business, history and culture that the UK has to offer.

We wanted to show our commitment to delivering growth for the whole of the country. In March, Heathrow along with VisitBritain began a 12-month advertising partnership where we gave £4 million of ad space to inspire passengers to explore further afield during their visit - or on future trips to the UK. The first three months of the partnership promoted the previously flood hit areas of Devon, Cornwall, Llanddwyn Island (Wales Coast Path) and Glastonbury, to show they were back on track and open for business. The second round of adverts that went live in June were chosen to coincide with the Tour de France Grand Départ, illustrating the natural beauty of Yorkshire’s celebrated countryside, as well as the region’s retail and architectural strengths.

For our third round of adverts, we are letting the public decide which region will feature. In a two week competition ending midnight on Monday 4th August, the North West, North East, Midlands and Northern Ireland will battle it out to secure £1m worth of free advertising at Heathrow. Members of the public can go to the Heathrow Facebook page right now where a gallery of four stunning images from each region are featured. The winning region will see four advertisements showing its breadth and beauty presented across digital screens in all terminals at Heathrow from the end of August until the end of November.

Heathrow is a national asset and, if we get approval for expansion, we will ensure that the whole of the UK feels the benefit, not just London and the South East.

Clare Harbord is the Corporate Affairs Director at Heathrow