Airport may receive approval to grow before Stansted
London Heathrow airport's bid for a third runway could become the UK government's preferred option over expansion at Stansted if a new environmental litmus test satisfies its green growth agenda.
In a progress report on the 2003 Air Transport White Paper, UK transport secretary Douglas Alexander says that, while the government remains committed to making best use of existing airports, new capacity will be allowed if it is "in line with environmental obligations".
Developments earmarked by the strategy have until now prioritised construction of a second runway at Stansted, originally scheduled for around 2011-12, and a third runway at Heathrow between 2015 and 2020, contingent on the airport meeting air quality and noise limits.
But the new sense of urgency in the review - which states that the Heathrow development should go ahead "as soon as it is possible" to meet the stringent limits - has indicated a change of preference.
Carol Barbone, campaign director for Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE), says the report sends a strong signal that the pressure is now on to increase capacity at Heathrow as the "number one" priority.
"SSE takes no consolation from the switch of emphasis to Heathrow, nor from the acceptance that a new runway at Stansted is now unlikely before 2015 at the earliest, and that its timing and nature will be subject to the commercial judgement of airport operator BAA and the planning process," she says.
"This contrasts with the Air Transport White Paper date of 2011-12, and the previous priority attached to building a second Stansted runway before any new runway at Heathrow."
Source: Flight International
