Airports: Heathrow

Lord Spicer Excerpts

Monday 12th December 2011 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Lord Spicer]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assumption they make about capacity levels at peak times at Heathrow Airport when forming their transport plans.

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, Heathrow Airport’s annual capacity is capped at 480,000 air transport movements, and the Department for Transport’s latest aviation forecasts assume there will be no increase in runway capacity to 2050. The Government do not make detailed assumptions about the airport’s capacity levels at peak times. This is a matter for the airport operator.

[Lord Spicer]

My Lords, my Question came with the bias of a former Aviation Minister. Given that Heathrow Airport is now effectively full at peak times, what is to be done about that while we wait 20 years for a new airport to be built in the Thames?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the short answer is that the South East Airports Taskforce, chaired by my right honourable friend Theresa Villiers, determined that there should be operational freedoms for Heathrow Airport to enable the airport to recover quickly from disruptions to operations.