Lib Dems: Passengers won't gain from Heathrow expansion

The Liberal Democrats have expressed their opposition to the government's support for a third runway at London Heathrow Airport, as the political party insists that it will not benefit consumers.

Speaking at a House of Commons debate earlier this week, Norman Baker, the party's shadow transport secretary, said that this expansion would undermine the Climate Change Bill and that growing consumer demand could be met by improved rail links.

Specifically, MP Baker pointed out that short haul flights within the country to destinations like Manchester could be swapped with train high-speed train services without affecting consumers. He told MPs: "We need an 80 per cent target, because the climate change challenge that we face is enormous. But how can it possibly square with the construction of an extra runway at Heathrow."

However, Geoff Hoon, the transport secretary dismissed this suggestion and insisted that capacity would still be 97 per cent full even if high-speed rail links were introduced.

Joining the Commons debate, Mr Hoon claimed that unless Heathrow increased its capacity, it would lose passengers to Amsterdam and Frankfurt, as the scale and range of destinations and the number of daily services on individual routes would suffer.

The transport secretary asked: "For those who want us to sit on our hands, do they want us to ration flights, to restrict flying to only the wealthy? Are we going to export jobs to the continent?" The government also faces opposition to the plans from a number of its own MPs, with 52 Labour backbenchers signing a Commons motion urging the government to re-think their plans.

Fiona McTaggart, MP for Slough in Berkshire, argued that Whitehall should not support another runway unless local motorways and other links to the airport are also expanded - as without them the increased demand could cause chaos for passengers.

Currently, the climate change bill, which will include growing aviation and shipping emissions, sets a target for an 80 per cent reduction in its carbon footprint by 2050.

However, the government has been unable to calculate exactly what emissions from international flights and shipping lines attribute to the country's carbon footprint.

BAA, which owns London Heathrow, has said that its existing runways are operating at more than 99 per cent of capacity. The world's third busiest airport for passengers currently handles more international visitors than any other, while it is used by more than 90 airlines that fly to 170 destinations worldwide.

© Adfero Ltd