Government must reconsider third Heathrow runway, say aviation bosses

Aviation leaders are putting pressure on the Government to reconsider a third runway at Heathrow as part of its consultation on aviation policy to be launched next month.

At a press conference today, they called on the Coalition to consider all options for increasing airport capacity, but said the consultation must include expansion of London’s premier hub.

Aviation Foundation members, including the CEOs of British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and BAA, along with heads of the British Chamber of Commerce and the TUC, asked the Government to come up with a "credible and lasting policy" that had "considered all options rationally and objectively in their merits".

Willie Walsh, CEO of BA parent IAG, said he believed this could include a third Heathrow runway, even though Prime Minister David Cameron has previously ruled this out.

However, Walsh insisted he had "no specific preference" for where new runways should be cited and he said he had not ruled out a new island airport in the Thames Estuary.

"I am absolutely clear that we should be looking at all options," he said. "To eliminate options before you have a consultation would be wrong."

With regard to expansion at Heathrow he said: "By all means eliminate options on rational grounds, but if they don’t at least consider all options the consultation will be meaningless."

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said no-one had come up with "a credible case for a viable alternative" to increasing capacity at Heathrow to safeguard up to one million jobs in the UK.

BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said that whatever decision was reached, it was vital it had cross-party support as any proposal would take several parliamentary cycles to complete.

"Whatever decisions emerge from the next Government policy review, history shows they will not be implemented without real leadership by all political parties," said Matthews. "The current aviation policy review is the last chance for Britain’s political leaders to work together in the national interest and prevent the UK slipping out of the premier league of global connectivity.

"It is time for narrow political interest to be put to one side and for our political leaders to grasp the nettle and work together for the good of the UK as a whole."

Virgin Atlantic CEO Steve Ridgeway added: "Let’s not have the stop-start policy we have had for the last 60 years.

"In the UK, crazy taxation and on-going indecision on how to deal with the crippling lack of capacity is stunting economic growth and having a strangling effect on tourism.

"To ensure that UK plc is not left behind by the rest of the world, the Government needs to develop a long-term credible avaition policy – and fast."

The Aviation Foundation claimed UK businesses trade 20 times as much with emerging market countries that have a direct daily flight to the UK as they do with those countries without regular connections, yet Mike Carrick of the Board of Airline Representatives warned carriers were pulling out of the UK because of high costs and lack of capacity at the country’s premier hub.

Air Seychelles, Czech Airlines and Caribbean airline BWIA have all stopped flying to London and Carrick said carriers that want to expand are unable to do so because Heathrow is full.

"There is a huge lack of capacity right now and the most immediate solution would be a third runway at Heathrow," he said. "That would increase capacity by 50% and give us quite a few years of growth."

The Aviation Foundation, which also includes Manchester Airports Group, said any successful aviation policy must:

• Deliver a clear policy conclusion that can be progressed without further delay
• Aim for cross-party consensus and a commitment that lasts beyond the term of one parliament and ensures the policy will be implemented
• Achieve cross-departmental consensus and support Britain’s economic growth, consistent with our trade, tourism, transport, environmental and climate change strategies
• Be based on a policy process that has considered all options rationally and objectively on their merits.

By Linsey McNeill