![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/northern-mayors-headling-to-india.webp\")
David Skaith (left) and other northern mayors on the trip. Photograph: Supplied<\/p>\nThe Mayor of York and North Yorkshire has revealed he\u2019ll fly economy class on a trade visit to India.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson said \u201cevery effort\u201d had been made to minimise costs to taxpayers as the elected mayor joins a Northern delegation seeking to secure a share of a potential \u00a3170 million annual economic boost for the region, including investment, jobs and trade opportunities.<\/p>\n
Mr Skaith will not be flying business or first class when he joins fellow metro mayors, including Tracy Brabin, Oliver Coppard and Kim McGuinness on the mission from 11-16 October , which represents the first major regional response to the UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which came into force in July.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is our first international trade mission, and we are stepping onto the global stage with partners from across the Great North to strike new deals and bring high-quality jobs back home,\u201d a spokesperson for Mr Skaith said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mayor will be flying economy class, and every effort has been made to minimise costs to the public purse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), they added: \u201cWe already share strong cultural and economic ties with India, but this is our chance to turn those connections into new opportunities for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Skaith (left) and other northern mayors on the trip. Photograph: Supplied<\/p>\n
The Labour mayors for West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, and for Greater Manchester, Bev Craig, have also faced scrutiny over their international travel arrangements.<\/p>\n
The Mayor of West Yorkshire has said she will be flying in economy class when she goes to India on the trade mission.<\/p>\n
This week, Tracy Brabin \u201cconfirmed she will not be flying business \u2013 and never has, at taxpayers\u2019 expense\u201d.<\/p>\n
But she told the BBC there could be benefits: \u201cJet lag is a real thing and I want to work really hard for the people of West Yorkshire. It\u2019s breakfast meetings right through to the evenings \u2013 these are long days and intense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greater Manchester mayor Bev Craig recently said that whether she travels business or economy class \u201cdepends on where I\u2019m going\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I have to work the next day, then we\u2019ll do it on a case-by-case basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cWhen I\u2019m flying in Europe, definitely, definitely economy, but there might be occasions where if I\u2019ve got to get off a plane and go straight into a full day of business meetings with global chief execs from firms, then I might need a bit more rest.\u201d<\/p>\n
200 representatives<\/p>\n
The trade mission to India will involve about 200 representatives from across the North, including mayors, businesses, universities and leaders from tourism, culture and sport, who are hoping to promote the North\u2019s economic opportunity. <\/p>\n
Planned activities include pitching the region\u2019s investment opportunities directly to Indian investors and businesses, bringing together Northern and Indian businesses for networking, and connecting companies from across the North with potential Indian customers, investors and commercial partners.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Reynolds, Business and Trade Secretary, said: \u201cFrom agreeing the India trade deal with Minister Goyal in Hyde Park last year to seeing it come into force this summer, the coalition of Northern mayors and businesses is an exciting initiative in the next stage our partnership, which is packed with economic opportunities from our most significant deal to date.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom Sunderland to Skye, this is what will drive economic growth across the country, where government lays the groundwork for businesses and organisations to work together with international partners to create jobs and opportunities for now and for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mayor of York and North Yorkshire has revealed he\u2019ll fly economy class on a trade visit to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":797534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-797533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/797534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}