Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has said Heathrow expansion could help grow the economy, telling business leaders that “Britain loses by standing still”. Her comments came after the airport’s boss criticised the uncertainty over plans for a third runway.
Speaking at the AirportsUK annual conference, Ms Alexander said the Government still needed to make a final decision about the expansion plans following a consultation.
She said: “Britain loses by standing still, and that focus on competitiveness is guiding our approach to Heathrow.”
Opportunities in every corner of the country
“A third runway has the potential to create new opportunities, jobs, investment and growth in every corner of this country,” she added.
She also insisted that airport expansion and competitiveness were not incompatible with climate ambitions. “You’ll never hear me pedalling false trade-offs” such as “going for growth means ditching decarbonisation”, she told the conference.
The speech comes after Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said he hoped the Prime Minister will throw his weight behind the third runway scheme, adding “it would be good to know where Government is on this”.
Pressure over runway commitment
Mr Woldbye warned that investment could be lost overseas without a firm commitment to the construction of a new runway.
Before Mr Burnham entered No 10, predecessor Sir Keir Starmer and then-chancellor Rachel Reeves had backed the construction of a third runway at the UK’s busiest airport. But Mr Burnham has refused to confirm his support, saying it is subject to a consultation and then the planning process.
Meanwhile, the Transport Secretary said there must be “accountability” for recent air traffic outages. Ms Alexander has been due to meet with the chairman of the National Air Traffic Services (Nats) after IT incidents led to thousands of flight cancellations last month.
Anger over air traffic disruption
She told business leaders at the AirportsUK Conference that she was “angry” about the situation. “The disruption was caused by successive Nats IT incidents. It was totally unacceptable.
“Small technical issues created a huge human and commercial cost.
“A cost born by cancelled family holidays, by passengers sleeping on airport floors, by your operations and staff who were pushed to the limit.
“Passengers deserve better; the industry deserves better.
“Like you, I’m angry, and I’m clear there must be accountability.”
She said the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was carrying out an independent review into what went wrong and that would be delivered in six months. “Rest assured, I will act, without fear or favour, to deliver an air space that supports future growth,” she said.
Nats boss Martin Rolfe has come under pressure to step down following an air traffic control software fault in early September, which caused more than 2,000 flights to be cancelled, disrupting hundreds of thousands of passengers. A second air traffic issue within two weeks also caused disruption, during which more than 170 flights were cancelled. Nats said this was unrelated and had been caused by a “connectivity issue” at its Prestwick centre in Scotland.
