Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 July 2018 to Question 162595 on Heathrow Airport, what statutory mechanisms are in place to ensure that unfunded Public Service Obligations to Heathrow Airport will be binding on both the Heathrow Airport and airlines.

The Government expects the majority of domestic routes from an expanded Heathrow to be commercially viable with support from Heathrow Airport, as many are today. Unfunded Public Service Obligations to Heathrow Airport would provide a safeguard for domestic connections and an exemption from Air Passenger Duty – saving £26 from a domestic return ticket.

EU Air Services Regulation 1008/2008 (Articles 16-18) makes provision for Public Service Obligations which are legally enforceable.