Out-Law News 2 min. read
16 Jul 2013, 10:31 am
However, heads of Heathrow and Gatwick airports disagreed about the best way to deal with what they say is a looming "capacity crunch" in the south east of England. Heathrow Airport has lobbied for up to two additional runways in its submission to the Commission (56-page / 11.4MB PDF), while both Gatwick and Stansted have cautioned against further expansion of Heathrow.
Colin Matthews, chief executive of Heathrow Airport, told the Commission that the UK needed "a single hub airport in the right place for taxpayers, passengers and business" if it was to compete as an international business destination.
"These straightened economic times have triggered a global economic race, with both companies and countries competing fiercely," he said. "If the UK does not want to be left behind by its foreign rivals, it must have the connectivity to compete and trade on the world stage."
Economist Sir Howard Davies is currently leading an independent commission tasked with considering how the UK can retain its status as a global aviation hub. The Commission will report on the need for additional capacity and how quickly, and set out how that need should be met in the short, medium and long term. Davies is due to present his interim report by the end of this year, with a final report due by summer 2015.
The Government cancelled plans for a proposed third runway at Heathrow when it took office in 2009 but has acknowledged the need for an alternative, which could include a new airport in the Thames Estuary or additional runways at Heathrow and Gatwick. Passenger demand for London's airports is forecast to increase from 140 million a year in 2012 to 400 million passengers a year by 2050, according to a report by the Greater London Authority.
In Heathrow's submission to the Davies Commission, Matthews warned that the UK's status as a leading global hub airport was at risk because rivals in continental Europe were growing while the West London airport was running at almost full capacity. If Heathrow was allowed to expand, the airport could support flights to an additional 40 long-haul destinations by 2030, he said.
According to Matthews, Heathrow is one of only six airports in the world – of which four are in Europe - with regular, direct connections to more than fifty long-haul destinations. However, as airlines begin to consolidate into fewer and larger carriers, which are then concentrating their operations at fewer and larger intercontinental hubs, it is "highly questionable" that so many large airports so close to each other would survive, he said.
However, in its own submission, Gatwick Airport proposed a "constellation" of three London airports with two runways each (28-page / 661KB PDF) as the best approach to deliver the necessary air connectivity. Spreading capacity around London would "create a level playing field between the airports and deliver true competition", as well as making airports more resilient to adverse weather and other types of disruption, its submission said.
The Major of London's Office has suggested building a new airport in one of three locations: on the Isle of Grain in north Kent; at Stansted; or on an artificial island in the middle of the Thames Estuary. At a speech in London on Monday, Mayor Boris Johnston said that he would be submitting detailed proposals for all three sites to the Davies Commission this week.
"It's not just the aviation sector that needs certainty on the location of new capacity," said planning and aviation expert Jonathan Riley of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com.
"Any business located – or considering locating – in the UK, which depends on long-haul flights, needs the same certainty to plan future investment," he said.
