by Steve Banks
The East Midlands has travel in its DNA. Long before modern roads and airports, it sat on major Roman routes like the Fosse Way and Watling Street, making it a key corridor for journeys across England. In 1841, Leicester’s Thomas Cook sent the world on its first railway excursion to Loughborough, kicking off a new era of organised travel that started right here.
As industry expanded, canals kept goods moving through the region from the late 18th to early 20th centuries, before the Midland rail network linked Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Birmingham. Derby became home to Rolls-Royce in 1908, connecting the East Midlands to world-class engineering in both motoring and aviation. By 1965, RAF Castle Donington had evolved into East Midlands Airport, turning a wartime airfield into a gateway for business and leisure travel. At its peak, it was also the base for British Midland, the largest regional airline in the UK at the time.
At Identity Travel, we’re proud to have our UK mainland hub in Derby and to be part of that history. But it’s not just history that matters here. Many of us have built our careers and families in the region, and that makes the East Midlands feel especially important to us.
Why it matters to business
The East Midlands is easy to overlook. It shouldn’t be.
From a commercial, transport and growth perspective, it combines a strong location, solid infrastructure and real economic momentum. For businesses thinking about access, efficiency and resilience, it has genuine strategic value.
East Midlands Airport sits at the centre of that story. It offers strong point-to-point city routes to Europe, giving businesses quicker access to key markets without the pressure of bigger hub airports. In business travel, time and reliability matter just as much as cost. That’s where EMA earns its place.
The airport’s catchment area covers 8.5 million people. It’s the closest airport to 5.1 million of the UK population, and research suggests 57% of travellers choose to fly from their nearest airport. On top of that, 8.1 million people live within an hour of the airport, giving it a strong base of reach and demand.
EMA’s economic weigh
EMA is the UK’s largest dedicated freight hub, carrying 413,000 tonnes of cargo annually. For businesses moving goods, that scale supports speed, capacity and resilience in a way few UK airports can match. It’s also driving wider growth. In 2025, EMA accounted for 32% of recorded airfreight growth in the UK between January and November, and welcomed seven new cargo airlines. That kind of momentum reflects real confidence in the airport and the region.
EMA also has the only inland freeport with direct runway access at the airport itself. That gives the region a strong offer for trade, logistics and inward investment. The freeport is expected to generate 28,000 new jobs and £9 billion in GVA over 25 years.
But EMA isn’t just freight. It carried 4 million passengers in 2025, facilitated 14 million regional air trips a year, and accommodates 1.2 million international visitors annually, with 28% travelling on business. For corporate travel planners, that means useful flexibility and a practical alternative to more congested airports.
Derby and Lincoln are emerging as key employment hubs, strengthening the region’s economic role in the UK. Leicester and Northampton add another layer, with strong entrepreneurial activity that reflects genuine local resilience.
The East Midlands has a habit of quietly doing a lot of heavy lifting for the UK economy. Central geography. Direct European connectivity. Freight scale. Freeport potential. A diverse economy that’s still expanding. For businesses in travel, logistics, manufacturing, professional services and events, it’s a region that helps things happen, and for Identity Travel, one of only a handful of travel management companies based here, that matters.
