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Heathrow

This is an important debate and it is clear that hon. Members on all sides of the argument have very strong feelings. I shall attempt to highlight some of the key problems that need to be considered carefully. The Transport Committee has considered this issue on three occasions in the context of inquiries into broader aviation matters. First, in 2003, in a study on aviation, the Committee concluded that the development of existing sites in a targeted way was one way to deal with the anticipated expansion of aviation. The Committee said that"““if the Government believe Heathrow should expand its position as a prime European hub then expansion is needed there as a matter of urgency””." The Committee recognised the significance of the environmental concerns and said that a decision must not be taken lightly. More recently, the Committee conducted two further inquiries—on passengers’ experience of air travel in July last year, and this year in March on the future of BAA. In both inquiries, the Committee considered poor conditions at Heathrow, which is currently overcrowded. It castigated the monopoly airport owner—BAA—and advocated its break-up. The Committee found that inadequate runway capacity was a major cause of the problems that passengers experienced at Heathrow. The report supported the Government’s proposal to add capacity at Heathrow, subject to strict environmental conditions being met. That is a key condition. Underlying many of the comments in support of the expansion of Heathrow was the recognition of it as an international hub, important to our economy and the jobs in it. It is our only such hub, with 68 million passengers a year and 56 per cent. of freight. It is because of the high volume of transit passengers that the hub is able to operate long-haul flights to multiple destinations, including to centres of economic growth in China and India that are important to our economy. If the arguments in favour of expansion are to be challenged, the whole issue of whether Heathrow should be an important international hub needs to be considered.