While Cameron promised that he would listen to the report and make a decision before the end of the year, it is politically very hard for the Conservative government to back a third runway at Heathrow.
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The government attributed much of the delay to evaluating the possible environmental impact of expanding the capital’s airport capacities. “We will continue work on all the shortlisted locations, so the timetable for more capacity by Sir Howard Davies (chair of the Airports Commission) is met”, he explained.
He said “I am disappointed that there will be a further delay to a decision on airport expansion”.
John Longworth, director general at the British Chambers of Commerce said that the move will be perceived as “gutless” by businesses, according to a report in the Telegraph.
“To get to that position we need the government definitively to rule out Heathrow expansion”, he said in a statement”.
Following the announcement John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow Airport said: “The Airports Commission, announced by the prime minister three years ago, made a unanimous and unambiguous recommendation in July for Heathrow expansion”.
“Clearly out of the two, it has to be Gatwick, but I don’t think it’s necessarily the right choice”.
The refusal to give a categorical promise comes with the Prime Minister being accused of backtracking on a pledge of a “decision” on airport expansion by Christmas.
Stewart Wingate, CEO at Gatwick Airport, said the decision is a “defining” moment in the expansion debate.
Meanwhile, Carolyn Fairbairn, the CBI director general, said delaying the decision “on an issue of critical importance to the future prosperity of the United Kingdom is deeply disappointing”. They argue that a lack of space at airports is damaging the economy.
Airport expansion – what are the options?
Business groups have long called for Heathrow’s extension, which they say would boost trade and help Britain keep up with rapidly expanding airports in the Middle East and Asia. Heathrow & Gatwick, 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of central London, have provided competing projects to construct a brand new runway in that will value as much as 18.6 billion pounds ($29.1 billion).Business leaders reacted with dismay Thurs.to yet one more delay on the difficulty of enlargement, which has-been mentioned, shelved & mentioned again for many years.
Willie Walsh, chief executive at BA parent company IAG, also attacked the Government’s delay and suggested that British Airways could move its business to Madrid or Dublin instead.
“The Government appointed Airports Commission looked in great detail at environmental issues but then went on to make a firm recommendation that additional capacity should be at Heathrow”.
The government hopes to conclude its work by the summer. Simon Clydesdale, a campaigner for the environmental group, Greenpeace UK, said: “Neither Heathrow nor the Davies Commission have managed to convince anybody that they can build a new runway without breaking pollution and carbon limits, which would be illegal – no ifs, no buts”.
Mr Goldsmith said he was “absolutely delighted” that ministers have agreed to “judge the options against an environmental test”. “We have always maintained that this decision is about balancing the economy and the environment”.
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Labour’s London Mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan, was quoted on the BBC as saying London would not forgive Cameron “if he postpones the decision simply to spare Mr Goldsmith’s “embarrassment” during the election campaign”.
