Following the announcement yesterday that a decision on a third runway at Heathrow will be delayed until next summer, the Royal Borough has said it will continue to campaign against the decision.
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“The case for aviation expansion is clear – yet it’s vitally noteworthy we get the decision right so in that it will benefit generations to come”, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin stated Thurs. Business leaders argue Britain needs more airport capacity to keep the economy growing.
The UK Board of Airline Representatives, which described the Commission’s report as “the most detailed independent report of its type ever commissioned”, said it was “dismayed” by the delay, voicing a widely held concern among industry and the business community that the decision was based on “what appears to be local political reasons”.
Business groups have reacted with anger to the government’s delay in reaching a decision on whether to build a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport.
Baroness Valentine, chief executive of London First, warned: “The decision won’t get any easier for the Prime Minister if he delays further”.
“We are glad that the Government recognises that more work on environmental impact needs to be done”.
Gatwick’s chief executive, Stewart Wingate, said the delay was a “defining moment in the expansion debate” and claimed Heathrow’s supporters must now realise that a third runway will never go ahead “as the environmental hurdles are just too high”.
“If we don’t have a new runway up and running by 2030 the cost to the United Kingdom will be as much as £5.3bn a year in lost trade to the BRICs alone. I hope that we will be – we should be in that position”.
Prime Minister David Cameron had promised a decision before the New Year. “We will undertake more work on environmental impacts, in addition to air quality, noise and carbon”.
The Conservatives have avoided a major headache by pushing the decision beyond May’s London mayoral election.
The current conservative Major of London Boris Johnson is firmly opposed to the third runway and, more importantly for the Conservatives, their candidate to be the next mayor of London Zac Goldsmith is one of the leading campaigners against Heathrow expansion.
“Heathrow are already operating outside the legal limit on emissions and an expanded airport will quite obviously lead to an increase”.
“T hose are the questions that have to be answered before any decision can be made”, said Mr Corbyn.
“Heathrow is not IAG’s only hub”.
“Without an additional runway, our future connectivity and economic wellbeing is at risk”.
He would only say: “We accept that additional airport capacity is needed and we will make a decision on where we are going on that hopefully in the summer of next year”.
In a statement released today it said: “Expanding Heathrow would give the United Kingdom up to 40 more long haul destinations, such as Wuhan, Osaka and Panama City, making it the best connected country in the world”.
According to their prospectus, HFL bonds help the company “support and develop Heathrow airport’s role as a hub… by investing in further capacity”.
“It is especially important to the North East as it is a key link for Newcastle Airport with approximately 500,000 passengers flying between the two airports annually, half of which are on business”.
The CBI said it was “deeply disappointed” and that tough decisions were needed.
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“What we should be doing is agreeing to a new runway at Gatwick Airport”.
