Pressure mounts on Grant Shapps to review Heathrow’s 3rd Runway

Following the announcement this week by the Civil Aviation Authority that it will not approve an additional £2.4 billion (2014 prices) of spending demands from Heathrow Airport Ltd, until it has conducted a new consultation, Heathrow Hub’s legal team has again written to Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport, to demand a review of the 3rd Runway under Section 6 of the National Planning Act.

Jock Lowe of Heathrow Hub said: “Grant Shapps has now been warned numerous times that the costs of Heathrow Airport Ltd’s 3rd Runway are rising dramatically. Our estimate is the true cost is £37 billion at least, not the out of date £14 billion quoted by Heathrow Airport Ltd. We have written to him, so have IAG and now the CAA has made its concerns clear. Rather than waste any more time he should initiate an urgent independent review of this project.”

“Heathrow Airport Ltd still cannot say how it will get its runway over the M25 without causing years of traffic delays and its calculations apparently rely on bringing in a huge number of new flights plus substantially higher passenger fees from day one. It would be far better for Mr Shapps to switch his support to our cheaper, quicker, simpler, greener extended runway. An extended runway could be built at a fraction of the cost, with no impact on passenger fees. It would improve the resilience of the airport and no new flights need be commenced unless strict noise and air quality limits were met.

”Heathrow Hub is awaiting a judgement from the Court of Appeal on the Government’s decision to support Heathrow Airport’s 3rd Runway plan.