Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the impact of the cost of landing slots at Heathrow Airport on regional connectivity; and what steps her Department is taking to help ensure (a) regional connectivity and (b) that airlines maintain routes from (i) Scotland and (ii) other UK regions to Heathrow Airport.

The allocation of airport slots, including at Heathrow, is carried out independently by Airport Coordination Limited (ACL). The Government does not determine the allocation of individual slots, or the commercial decisions airlines make about which routes to operate.

The Government continues to support regional connectivity through a range of measures. These include the use of Public Service Obligations, where appropriate, to protect essential domestic air routes. The government is currently reviewing the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) which provides the policy framework that any application for a third runway at Heathrow would be examined against. This includes reviewing policies related to domestic connectivity.