HEATHROW EXPANSION IN BIGGEST DOUBT YET AS COP26 BEGINS
PRESS RELEASE
31 October 2021
For immediate use
HEATHROW EXPANSION IN BIGGEST DOUBT YET AS COP26 BEGINS
Plans to expand Heathrow have been dealt their most significant blow for two years after its biggest shareholder – Ferrovial – stated that it did not want to invest further capital into the airport, according to reports in the Sunday Telegraph (1). To deliver a third runway which, despite pandemic losses, Heathrow have continued to state it wants to push ahead, the Airport must raise at least £14bn. Campaigners believe the final figure to construct the new runway and associated infrastructure would be much higher (2).
The pandemic has hit the airport’s finances hard, with a new tax on passenger drop-off charges – which even applies to electric vehicles - beginning from tomorrow (1 November), in an effort to recoup lost revenue and removed bus subsidies which allowed employees and passengers to use for free travel around the airport (3).
Ferrovial currently owns 25% of Heathrow. Other shareholders include the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) – the biggest providers of UK academics’ pensions. On the fringes of COP26, a summit will see financial institutions discuss increasing pressure to commit to net zero targets, arguing that pension providers must accelerate action towards meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The USS will be speaking at the summit (4).
Government policy towards Heathrow expansion states that Heathrow expansion is a “private sector project and will receive no taxpayer funding” (5), with the most recent Conservative Party manifesto also stating this position (6). Boris Johnson repeated this line at a Downing Street Press Conference in April 2021 (7).
Geraldine Nicholson from campaign group Stop Heathrow Expansion, said:
“It is probably wise of Ferroival to push back at this early stage from funding a third runway. We know the project would cost at least £14 billion. But that is without accounting 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.
“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.”
ENDS.
Notes:
1. Sunday Telegraph, 31 October 2021 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/10/30/death-knell-heathrows-third-runway-spanish-investor-cuts-funding/
2. Who Will Pay for Heathrow’s 3rd Runway?, No 3rd Runway Coalition, December 2019 https://533d67b8-cd8c-4b9c-be04-d9f1956466a9.filesusr.com/ugd/8b8ad1_b71ff9d689ae4bf889f8138be285c798.pdf
3. Heathrow removes free buses and staff travel subsidies, May 2021 https://stopheathrowexpansion.co.uk/press-releases/2021/5/29/no-more-free-buses-around-heathrow
4. Net Zero Pension Summit, 9 November 2021 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/net-zero-pension-summit-at-cop26-tickets-178758249737
5. Hansard, House of Lords, 17 December 2020 https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2020-12-17/debates/DD7A94BD-AFAE-4A72-9DB2-FA5C7C00D0A0/HeathrowAirportExpansion?highlight=heathrow%20expansion#contribution-D80B1F11-F88B-4107-87B0-D6E5ED461834
6. Conservative Manifesto 2019, p. 45 https://assets-global.website-files.com/5da42e2cae7ebd3f8bde353c/5dda924905da587992a064ba_Conservative%202019%20Manifesto.pdf
7. Comments by Boris Johnson at a Downing Street Press Conference, 20 April 2021 https://stopheathrowexpansion.co.uk/press-releases/2021/4/20/death-knell-of-heathrow-expansion