Heathrow Airport

(asked on 12th June 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish any assurance work undertaken by his Department on the financial viability of the proposal to expand Heathrow Airport.


Answered by
Jesse Norman Portrait
Jesse Norman
This question was answered on 15th June 2018

The Government and its advisers have undertaken considerable assurance work on the financial viability of Heathrow Airport Limited's scheme. Given the transformative nature of the scheme, there will inevitably be various risks and challenges that need to be addressed as the scheme design and regulatory framework are developed. The Government’s independent advice has concluded that, so far as can be assessed at this early stage of the process, in current market conditions Heathrow Airport Limited appears in principle to be able to finance expansion privately without Government support. This includes taking into consideration the effect of the UK leaving the European Union.

The Government is not publishing the financial assurance work that has been undertaken as it is based on and contains information provided in confidence, and to do so would prejudice commercial interests. Separately, the Civil Aviation Authority has published its own view that there are credible scenarios in which expansion can be financed and delivered affordably. This can be found online at:

(http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP1658EconomicregulationofcapacityexpansionatHeathrow.pdf)

Reticulating Splines