HEATHROW EXPANSION IN BIGGEST DOUBT YET

With our planet heating up and Heathrow’s carbon footprint set to increase exponentially if it were expanded it would be sensible, not to mention bold, of the Government to announce sooner rather than later that the third runway is cancelled. After all, it seems it is not going to be able to hide behind private capital funding the project any longer.

These past few days have given the clearest signals for some time that the project will never take off. First, we heard at the weekend that Heathrow’s largest shareholder is reluctant to inject further capital into the airport. Then, today (3 November), Boris Johnson declared at Prime Minister’s Questions that he was prioritising “clean, green aviation” which, he said, would come before a third runway at Heathrow. 

In the Halloween edition of the Sunday Telegraph, Heathrow must have had a fright to hear the news that its majority shareholder, Ferrovial, said they are not intending to inject further capital into the airport. The Spanish multinational said it was not satisfied with the potential returns of a third runway being “low”. This must have been a big blow to the Airport, given the Government’s policy of Heathrow being a private sector project and receiving no taxpayer funds. Back in the Spring, Boris Johnson had told a Downing Street Press Conference that: 

“Heathrow…that’s a matter for the company concerned, it is a private matter. They’ve got to get it through and fund it and finance it themselves and my own views about that particular matter are well known. But that doesn’t mean that I am opposed to aviation.”

The airport must raise at least £14bn to go ahead with expansion, but that figure doesn’t account for any cost overruns, nor does it include a realistic sum to upgrade public transport schemes in order to cope with the increase in demand.

At PMQs on Wednesday (3 November), the Prime Minister was asked by Ealing Central and Action MP Rupa Huq to have a fresh vote in Parliament on Heathrow expansion. Huq argued that this is an environmental act within his gift and would be in the interest of future generations. He responded:

“What this Government is going to do….is get to net zero aviation. That’s the future for this country – clean, green aviation. And by the way, I think that has every chance of arriving a lot earlier than a third runway at Heathrow.” 

This clear dismissal of a third runway at Heathrow acts as the biggest signal yet that Boris Johnson’s Government’s effectively ruled expansion out for a very long time and that its aviation-related priorities are elsewhere – making aviation a bit more environmentally friendly in decades to come, rather than creating an even bigger mega-polluting hub airport before any green technologies, such as Sustainable Aviation Fuels or electric aircraft are fully developed.

Heathrow is already the single biggest source of carbon emissions in the UK, emitting 20 megatons of CO2 per year which equates to around 60% of total UK aviation emissions.  The Government’s Climate Change Committee anticipates that the aviation sector will still be emitting 23MtCO2 in 2050, yet Heathrow expansion would increase the airport’s emissions to 27MtCO2 per year. With new net zero emission laws to meet, Heathrow expansion is not going to be possible.

We argued that the Prime Minister knows that Heathrow expansion would so badly undermine our ability to meet new climate legislation but would also result in toxic levels of air pollution in areas around the airport. With the Government pledging not to commit a penny in funding for the project, this should surely mean the end of Heathrow’s expansion plans. It is the news our communities and wider environment deserve and its news we deserve to hear now. The time has come to put an end to Heathrow expansion.