Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to review Heathrow Airport's licence arrangements as granted by the Civil Aviation Authority.

Economic regulation of Heathrow Airport is carried out by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), independently of the Secretary of State for Transport, in accordance with the Civil Aviation Act 2012.

Heathrow Airport’s licence arrangements are subject to periodic review by the CAA. The current licence was granted in 2015 and is due to expire at the end of 2021 (having been extended and amended since its initial five-year period). The CAA is presently developing the regulatory framework for a new licence to commence in 2022. It most recently sought views on development of that framework in its April 2022 ‘Way Forward’ consultation, which closed for responses in June, and is now reviewing those consultation responses.

While the Department for Transport works with the CAA to understand its direction of travel in developing the licence arrangements, the CAA’s work is independent of Government and the Secretary of State has no statutory role in reviewing those arrangements.