Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the economic cost of the recent flight disruptions affecting London airports to tourism, business travel and freight movements.

I am under no illusion that the economic cost of the recent incident is significant. Therefore, we need to learn the lessons from what has happened to ensure that we can minimise the chance of disruption of this kind happening again.

The Secretary of State asked NATS to provide a report by 16 September setting out the cause of the incident and the actions taken in response, which has now been received. The Government has also asked the CAA to conduct an independent review and will provide an update within 6 months. This will provide an important opportunity to review existing arrangements, ensure lessons are learned, and identify any further measures required to enhance resilience.