Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what legal agreements are in place between his Department and Heathrow Airport Limited to guarantee existing routes between London Heathrow and regional airports; what (a) routes and (b) regional airports those agreements include; and for how long those agreements have legal force.

There are currently no legal agreements in place between the Department for Transport and Heathrow Airport Limited to guarantee existing routes between London Heathrow and regional airports.

However, the Secretary of State has a clear ambition for around 15 per cent of slots made available from a new runway to be used for domestic routes. We expect that the majority of these routes will be commercially viable with support from Heathrow Airport Limited.

The Government will also take action, where appropriate, to secure routes through the use of Public Service Obligations (PSOs). This will include ring fencing appropriately timed slots. Further detail on the Government’s targets and commitments on domestic connectivity will be detailed in a Green Paper on the Aviation Strategy which will be published towards the end of 2018.