The Economist UK - 03.08.2019

20 Britain The EconomistAugust 3rd 2019

2 no-deal Brexit might cause some short-

term disruption, he concedes, but not

much. Tariffs imposed by the eu on Britain

“will be a manageable business cost” for

most firms because the depreciation of

sterling would make exports more compet-

itive internationally. Problems surround-

ing the Irish border are waved away.

Mr Lyons likes to use the metaphor of

the Nike “swoosh” to describe what would

happen next. Disruption would cause a dip

in growth, but once outside the eu’s “regu-

latory stranglehold” Britain could latch on

to the coat-tails of fast-growing emerging

markets. Brexit would also allow the Brit-

ish economy to look, in effect, more Chi-

nese, through stronger export perfor-

mance and more investment. But the book

does not convincingly pin the blame for

Britain’s failings on its eu membership,

rather than British government policy.

The big question—whether a hard

Brexit would cause permanent economic

damage—gets to the heart of Mr Lyons’s

identity. He regards himself as an outsider.

As he sees it, the “economics establish-

ment” was proved wrong about the erm

and wrong about the euro. He was proved

right. Why shouldn’t he also be right about

Brexit? And, like Mr Johnson, he believes

that if only the country could muster up

some vim, Brexit would be great. “Britain’s

biggest export is its pessimism,” he says.

Many Brexiteers would love Mr Lyons to

get the bank job (if he does not, expect ac-

cusations of an establishment stitch-up).

Whether it would be good for Britain as a

whole is less clear. Mr Lyons has little expe-

rience of central banking. What would be

widely construed as a political appoint-

ment would hurt the bank’s credibility

among investors. Yet Mr Johnson’s cabinet

is stuffed with radicals; one more would be

no great surprise. 7

Just do it, says Lyons

I

f you startedreading this article as Lo-

ganair Flight 711 lifted off from the com-

pacted-gravel runway at Papa Westray (air-

port code ppw), a tiny island at the

northern end of Orkney, it would have

landed by the time you finished. Its first

destination, the neighbouring island of

Westray (wry), is all of 2.7km away—a dis-

tance shorter than Heathrow airport’s run-

ways. Lasting less than two minutes, the

route holds the record for the shortest

scheduled flight in the world.

Some 75-odd weekly inter-island ser-

vices connect Kirkwall, the main settle-

ment and primary airport in Orkney, with

six islands on the archipelago. Last year,

around 21,000 passengers flew between

the islands on Loganair’s three Britten-

Norman Islander aircraft, which can carry

up to eight passengers in a minivan-style

arrangement. North Ronaldsay (popula-

tion 72) and Papa Westray (population 90)

received the most traffic. Neither island

has a pier, and ferry crossings are infre-

quent or, depending on weather, non-exis-

tent. “So we try to compensate” with the air

service, says James Stockan, the council

leader.

The Papa Westray-Westray trip is cheap

for passengers—£17 one way, and £1 more

to fly all the way back to Kirkwall—but cost-

lier for taxpayers. The Orkney Islands

Council throws in another £46 (€50), add-

ing up to an annual subsidy bill of just un-

der £1m. The subsidy—paid for largely by

the Scottish government—is exempt from

strict European Union rules on state aid be-

cause it is a “lifeline” route. This is no exag-

geration: between October and April, all

North Ronaldsay’s supplies, including

food, come by air every Tuesday.

The route is in contention for another

record: the first commercial electric flight.

In the world of commercial aviation, elec-

tric aircraft are likely to be taking off short-

ly. An Israeli model, expected to be operat-

ing by 2022, was unveiled at the Paris Air

Show this year. Cranfield University, which

specialises in aeronautics, is working on

something simpler for the Islander—retro-

fitting it with electric power.

Jonathan Hinkles, Loganair’s boss, says

he is sceptical of attempts to put electric

engines on big planes, but “with the Island-

er we are confident and comfortable that it

does work, that this is a technically feasible

solution.” Moreover, Orkney’s inter-island

flights are short enough for range anxiety

to not be a big concern. The longest trip,

from Kirkwall to North Ronaldsay, is no

more than 20 minutes. Indeed, electric

planes could make small, short routes such

as these more economically viable, and

therefore more common.

Orkney is already a leader in green ener-

gy. It generates more wind power than it

consumes—it sells electricity to the na-

tional grid—has the highest rate of electric-

vehicle ownership in Scotland and is ex-

perimenting with batteries to store excess

energy. The council is working on a scheme

to introduce hydrogen-powered ferries in

2021. If all goes according to plan, Loga-
      nair’s e-planes should take off the follow-
      ing year. 7

PAPA WESTRAY

The world’s shortest flight may soon be its greenest, too

Green transport

Orcadian rhythm

Flight 711

route

Kirkwall North Sea

Papa Westray

North

Ronaldsay

Westray

Mainland

ORKNEY ISLANDS

ATL A NTI C

OCEAN

20 km

Et in Orcadia ego