The British International Freight Association (BIFA) has joined the chorus of people urging parliament to have an early vote on the recommendations of the Transport Select Committee’s report on the Airports National Policy Statement – published today on 23 March 2018.

BIFA said that if parliament votes to approve the recommendations made in the statement, it is predicted that construction could begin in 2020, with the third runway operational before 2030. Robert Keen, BIFA’s Director General said: “A vote in favour would effectively give planning permission for the construction of the Northwest Runway at Heathrow Airport.” He added that this would be long overdue. “We should not forget that the government gave its backing to the development of a new runway at Heathrow in October 2016. It really is well beyond time for action to be taken on this matter.”