Disaster for Gatwick

The repercussions for one of Sussex's biggest employers are huge and the shock waves are affecting the whole region.

Business experts at Sussex Enterprise estimated 10,000 jobs in the region were lost in the immediate weeks after the tragedy.

The terrorist bombings put people off flying, particularly those travelling on the lucrative transatlantic crossings.

The business organisation hoped Sussex's buoyant economy would carry the area through any threat of recession but now a second air disaster has hit the already ailing industry.

The statistics relating to air travel and tourism in Britain have made grim reading in recent weeks.

BAA, which operates the seven main airports in Britain, revealed passenger numbers slumped last month, as the after-effects of September 11 began to show.

Figures released yesterday by airline schedule publishers OAG, show the number of transatlantic flights to and from the West Sussex airport dipped 22 per cent in the last two months.

Only Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport, with a drop of 20 per cent in transatlantic flights, comes close to the Gatwick fall.

But experts at Sussex Enterprise are still confident the local economy will survive the latest tragedy, when an American Airlines jet crashed in New York on Monday, and are taking steps to help businesses in the region survive.

The organisation is currently trying to organise a major seminar at Gatwick involving key business experts and Government industry leaders. It hopes to be able to hold it before Christmas.

Steven Gauge, a spokesman for Sussex Enterprise, said: "We're here to help businesses who are suffering as a result of the events of September 11 but we think the economy is still strong locally and will be in a position to bounce back."

Mr Gauge said the organisation was getting mixed signals about the economy and realised that some companies were suffering but had set up a helpline to offer expert advice on how to work around difficulties which may arise.

He added: "We're keeping a close eye on the job situation and the knock-on effect the incident may have locally and are working with businesses locally."

One of the issues the organisation is trying to address is people losing their jobs in specialist industries or leaving them for alternative employment as the fear of job cuts increases.

He said: "We want to make sure if people leave an industry they return or are maintained in the area so that when the airport bounces back we still have the skills available. We don't want to lose people from the industry."

The fact the airline industry is struggling in the current climate does not just affect Gatwick, but the airport's feeder towns of Horsham, Haywards Heath and Crawley.

The 25 per cent drop-off in tourism to Britain is already sending ripples further into Sussex and other industries.

But business and political leaders believe the region can use its natural assets to save it from economic collapse, by cashing in on the domestic tourism market.

Ivor Caplin, Labour MP for Hove and Portslade, visited the British Tourist Authority's stand at the World Travel Market at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London, on Tuesday, to hear what impact the terrorist attacks could have on the city of Brighton and Hove.

Mr Caplin said: "We are very fortunate that Britain hosts this exhibition, which attracts thousands of buyers, journalists, diplomats and foreign ministers and provides a showcase for the tourist industry of this country.

"We need the world to know that even after recent problems such as foot-and-mouth and the September 11 atrocities, the United Kingdom is still open for business as usual."

Tourism leaders in the region have also launched a series of marketing campaigns to get people to come to Sussex for winter weekend breaks as an alternative to places like Paris or Amsterdam.

Pam Foden, of the West Sussex Tourism Initiative, said it had started to take out adverts to tap into the weekend market.

It was also promoting its web site heavily, which enabled people to book on-line.

She said: "Obviously the crash will make people nervous for a period of time but I don't think it will have a permanent effect."

She said tourism leaders were trying to tap into the domestic market to attract people who had perhaps been put off flying and were even competing with other areas in Britain such as the Cotswolds.

She said some of those who lost their jobs in the fallout from Gatwick may be able to rescue careers within the tourism industry in Sussex which was always looking for experienced people to join the industry.

Sussex was also fortunate in that traditionally it had not relied on the large number of visitors from the United States.

Although Americans were the number one visitors to the UK, European visitors made up most of the tourists in Sussex.

Many of them came from European countries such as France, Germany and Holland, and people from those countries had alternatives to flying to reach Britain.

She said: "We need to be working really hard at the moment to promote Sussex and there's such a lot to do here that once people come once, they will want to come back."