'Expand existing airports' call from MPs

‘Expand existing airports’ call from MPs

Plans for airport expansion will be published within a few months
Increased demand for air travel should be met by expanding existing airports rather than building new ones, an influential committee of MPs has said.
They also called for the monopoly of airports owner BAA to end and accused the firm of being largely to blame for a shortage of capacity in south-east England.

The wide-ranging Commons Transport Committee report said it was “neither possible nor desirable for the government to dictate how much we should fly”.

But it called on ministers to set out a clear framework, so that future growth would not hurt the UK’s economy or the environment.

The aviation report was published a few months before the government is due to announce where it wants airport expansion in the UK to take place.

Fierce opposition

The committee’s support for enlarging existing airports will be welcomed by campaign groups opposed to the development of new sites.

Airport recommendations
Make best use of existing facilities
Expanding existing airports on a case by case basis
Rule out new major airports on greenfield sites

Among the proposals under consideration is a £9bn, four-runway airport at Cliffe in north Kent, and smaller developments in the Thames and Severn Estuaries.

Joan Goddard, chairwoman of the No Airport at Cliffe Action Group, told BBC News Online it would be an “immense relief” if the proposal was ruled out.

But she added: “Cliffe is still very much an option. Until they actually say Cliffe is removed from the equation in a legal and binding way, I don’t think any of us can accept that this won’t happen.”

The MPs said enlarging existing airports was a more “viable and more practicable solution” to capacity problems.

‘Short-sighted’

Turning to airports operator BAA, the MPs were scathing of its stance on expansion at Heathrow.

The committee said BAA had opposed a third runway and then, three years later, supported such a plan.

Passenger numbers are set to continue rising

“At best the company was culpably short-sighted when it told the (Heathrow) Terminal 5 inquiry that an extra runway at Heathrow would be unacceptable for environmental reasons; at worst it was wilfully misleading,” the report said.

It said under-capacity at airports in the South East was “largely the result of the dominant position of BAA” and called for its control of seven airports to end.

The report said: “It is ineffective and inappropriate to have a single private sector operator controlling such a large part of our aviation infrastructure.

“The government must not assume that extra capacity in the South East should be provided by BAA.”

The findings were dismissed as “self-contradictory and wrong” by BAA, which said it had consistently worked to get the most out of existing runway capacity.

On the question of a third runway for Heathrow, BAA said it had argued the existing two would be enough when Terminal 5 was built – not that they would meet all future demand.

Contempt

Criticism was also levelled at regulatory body the Civil Aviation Authority, which was accused by the committee of failing to show it was capable of providing the framework for runway development.

It said: “We do not believe that (the CAA) has furthered the interests of all airport users in the UK nor provided for timely and appropriate capacity development.”

The MPs went on to attack the airlines British Airways and bmi for suggesting they would withdraw regional services unless extra capacity was provided at Heathrow.

The report said: “We deplore this tactic, particularly when the proponents have shown little regard for regional authorities and airports and indeed have treated many of them with contempt.”

Welcoming the findings Dan Hodges, director of aviation coalition group Freedom to Fly, said: “This report seals the case for runway expansion.

“Not only does it underline the economic, social and employment benefits of new runways, it stresses the importance of commencing their construction at the earliest possible opportunity.”