The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has once again called for the UK government to make a decision about the expansion of the country’s biggest airport.
In July 2015, the long-awaited final report from the Davies Commission concluded that Heathrow was the best option for expansion because of the economic benefits for the whole country, which included £147 billion in economic growth over the next 60 years and the creation of 70,000 new jobs by 2050. In response to the report’s findings FTA urged government to make a quick decision on airport expansion in the South East but as yet no announcement has been made.
Echoing FTA’s call for progress at the airport, CBI President Paul Drechsler said that decisive action was needed and that ministers should get on with it.
Chris Welsh, FTA’s Director of Global and European Policy said, “FTA is once again calling on government to make a decision as quickly as possible regarding the expansion of Heathrow. Despite the clear recommendation made four months ago in the Davies Commission Report for a third runway a government decision has yet to be made.”
In 2014 FTA commissioned a report undertaken by York Aviation - focussing on the importance of air freight to the UK economy and airport capacity in the South East. The findings of the report both confirmed Heathrow as a vital hub for air cargo and underlined that a failure to invest in new runway capacity would result in UK exporters and importers losing competitive edge to continental competitors, with the real possibility of services transferring to airports on the continent.
95% of air cargo is carried in the belly-hold of passenger aircraft; air freight accounts for nearly 40% of UK imports and exports by value and employs 39,000 people, mostly clustered around Heathrow - the UK's main airport hub.
Photo: Heathrow was selected in 2015 as the best option for expansion by the Davies Commission.