Heathrow expansion decision shelved

By George Parker and Andrew Parker

 
A decision on whether to expand Heathrow airport has been shelved until beyond the 2015 election, after David Cameron and Ed Miliband, the opposition leader, agreed to set up an independent inquiry into the UK’s airport capacity.
 
Sir Howard Davies, former head of the CBI employers’ organisation and the Financial Services Authority, will lead the study but has been told to take his time: he will not produce his final report during the current parliament.
 
 
The decision has infuriated Boris Johnson, London mayor, who vowed to fight any expansion of Heathrow, claiming the creation of an inquiry was “a fudge that will cost business dear”. He wants a new airport in the Thames estuary.
 
But after a three-year delay in confronting the politically-charged question of London’s overloaded airport capacity, the Davies inquiry could finally break the deadlock on the issue.
 
The fact that the prime minister and Labour leader have endorsed the inquiry will make it difficult for either of them to reject Sir Howard’s conclusions.
 
It also increases the likelihood of Sir Howard’s solution – possibly including the construction of one or more extra runways at Heathrow – having the cross-party support needed to see it through to completion.
 
Mr Cameron was once vehemently opposed to expansion of Heathrow, saying in 2009: “No third runway at Heathrow, no ifs, no buts.” However the prime minister now sees it as the quickest and cheapest way to boost London’s air links.
 
Nick Clegg, his deputy and the Liberal Democrat leader said on Thursday that his party will maintain their opposition to a third runway but they were not “sticking their head in the sand” on the debate over expanding the UK’s hub airport capacity.

Ed Miliband, a former climate change minister, was once against expanding the airport but his spokesman said on Wednesday he was now merely “very sceptical”.
 
The Labour leader will insist the Davies review is “not a political stitch up” and will look at all options, but like Mr Cameron, he accepts the need for new airport capacity in the London area.
 
BAA, Heathrow’s owner, welcomed Mr Cameron’s plan for an independent commission, the creation of which was revealed in the Financial Times last week.
 
Previous attempts to increase the UK’s hub capacity failed because many governments’ proposals were then ripped up by successors.
 
Edward Heath’s Tory government proposed a hub airport in the Thames estuary, but it was rejected by Harold Wilson’s Labour administration. Gordon Brown’s Labour government backed a third runway at Heathrow but the plan was rejected by the coalition.
 
BAA and International Airlines Group, parent of British Airways, the biggest airline at Heathrow, will be hoping Mr Cameron’s commission eventually backs a third runway, which could cost about £10bn.
 
One person familiar with IAG welcomed the planned appointment of Mr Davies as commission chairman because he was a “heavyweight figure”.
 
The inquiry could leave Mr Johnson “looking isolated”, added this person.
 
IAG has strongly criticised the government’s repeated delays on airport issues, with Willie Walsh, chief executive, in February challenging ministers to have the “political balls” to reconsider the case for a third runway at Heathrow.
 
A £50bn airport to the east of London in the Thames estuary, proposed by Lord Foster, the architect, is the main alternative proposal. Other solutions could involve expanding Gatwick or Stansted airports.
 
Additional reporting by Hannah Kuchler