UK AIRPORTS COMMISSION CHAIR: HEATHROW EXPANSION NOT NEEDED
PRESS RELEASE
15 June 2021
For immediate use
HOWARD DAVIES: HEATHROW EXPANSION NOT NEEDED
Sir Howard Davies, previously the Chair of the Airports Commission which recommended a third runway at Heathrow in 2015, has now said that the expansion plans are not necessary (1).
Speaking to LBC radio on Tuesday (15 June), Davies was asked by host Nick Ferrari whether he thought a third runway was still needed, to which Davies responded “not at the moment, quite clearly. Heathrow would be delighted to fill the two runways it’s got just at the moment and its nowhere near it, so undoubtedly that’s been pushed further and further back.”
Davies also stated that if he were looking at Heathrow expansion again now, he would “have to redo the numbers to see if it made economic sense”, citing the change in business travel due to the pandemic.
Davies, who is the Chair of the NatWest Group, stated that he expects many more of his colleagues to conduct meetings online rather than fly and that he suspects that many will stick with remote working and conferencing beyond the end of the pandemic. It is this change which Davies thinks means that expansion of Heathrow is not needed.
The Airports Commission recommended a third runway in a report to Government in July 2015 as a mean of solving airport capacity constraints in the southeast of England (2). Many campaigners have long been critical of the conclusions drawn by the report, which acted as a driving force behind the May Government’s support for Heathrow expansion in October 2016.
The then Cabinet’s support led to a parliamentary vote for general planning approval, in the form of the Airports National Policy Statement in June 2018 – a policy which, although challenged in the courts, remains in place. But it could yet be reversed by the current administration, due to legislative changes such as the binding Net Zero targets and adoption of the Climate Change Committee’s advice on aviation emissions, which were not in place at the time the Airports Commissions report was written, nor the parliamentary vote in 2018 (3).
Geraldine Nicholson from local campaign group Stop Heathrow Expansion, said:
“It is significant that the very person who recommended a third runway just six years ago and acted as the enabler of Government policy on Heathrow, now no longer holds that view.
“Our world has changed in the past 18 months and if less business travel is going to dominate the next decade and beyond then not only should Heathrow focus more on adapting to these circumstances, but the Government should also cancel Heathrow expansion plans so that, amongst other factors, people living in areas closest to the airport can plan their future accordingly, with a better, but not bigger Heathrow Airport.”
ENDS.
Notes:
1. Sir Howard Davies on LBC, 15 June 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVyQgpJlysw
2. Airport Commission, Final Report, 1 July 2015 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/airports-commission-final-report
3. Boris announcement signals ‘death knell of Heathrow Expansion’ 20 April 2021 https://stopheathrowexpansion.co.uk/press-releases/2021/4/20/death-knell-of-heathrow-expansion