Heathrow backs Boris on airport capacity

Heathrow has welcomed comments by the Mayor of London concerning the coalition Government’s opposition to the construction of new runways.

Speaking at a People’s Question Time event on 15th March, Boris Johnson labelled the Government’s unwillingness to discuss any new capacity in the South East as “crazy”. He warned that a lack of new runways is hindering London’s long term competitiveness, whilst increasing capacity could “deliver growth and jobs for a long time to come.”

Mr Johnson went on to criticise the spiralling cost of aviation taxation, saying “I think it is an absolute disgrace that you are seeing a kind of bourgeois repression of people’s ability to take holidays and I think it is a matter of social justice that we look at aviation capacity in this country.”

Meanwhile, figures published on 15th March by Airports Council International showed that Heathrow has slipped from second to fourth busiest airport worldwide by passenger numbers, behind Atlanta, Beijing and Chicago O’Hare.

Nigel Milton, Heathrow’s Director of Policy and Political Relations said:

“Heathrow’s position in the global rankings shows a worrying trend and is a direct consequence of the airport being unable to develop new routes. We believe that London needs more airport capacity to strengthen the trading links on which future economic growth depends, and we welcome the Mayor’s comments.”