London City Airport expansion plans stay grounded following Mayor Boris Johnson’s U-turn August 20, 2015 The battle for London City Airport is heating up. Less than a month has passed since its owners Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and Oaktree Capital put the site to the east of the capital up for sale with a price tag of around £2bn. But already two heavyweight bidders have emerged, including one of the [...]
Sir Howard Davies defends Airports Commission recommendation against Gatwick criticism August 19, 2015 Sir Howard Davies has hit back against criticism of his conclusion that Heathrow should build a third runway by Gatwick chief Stewart Wingate. In a statement today by Airports Commission chair Davies, who was the subject of a 50-page catalogue of criticisms published by Gatwick yesterday, Davies gave a withering response. "This dossier appears to [...]
Gatwick Airport boss Stewart Wingate blasts recommendation to build third Heathrow runway August 18, 2015 The chief executive of Gatwick Airport has hit out at a recent commission’s recommendation that Heathrow be expanded. A 50-page catalogue of criticisms, published yesterday, targets the Davies Commission’s use of analysis from consultants PwC, despite its own expert panel urging caution on it. It also said the commission’s proposals, which rejected calls to expand [...]
Airport expansion: Forget Heathrow and Gatwick – only Thames Estuary can give more than a sticking plaster solution to the UK’s airport expansion needs August 4, 2015 Last week big business was on the march with 57 senior business leaders signing a letter urging the Prime Minister to give a third runway to Heathrow. This follows on neatly from the Davies Commission – a £20m report that has taken three years to recommend political suicide. The challenge for a future [...]
Heathrow airport expansion is in the UK’s interests: Get on with it July 29, 2015 It has now been a month since the Airports Commission made a clear recommendation to give the green-light to a new runway at Heathrow, following three years of consulting and examining the evidence. I fully back that recommendation. But after years debating the issue, we now need the government to grasp the moment and address [...]
Ivan Massow: I don’t love Heathrow – but we shouldn’t let Nimbyism block a crucial new runway July 20, 2015 It’s no secret that London Conservatives are deeply divided on Heathrow expansion. So far, I’m the party’s only mayoral candidate to support the Davies Commission’s recommendation that the airport should get a third runway. In fact, one of us would rather resign than see it happen. I was there when Jeffrey Archer “resigned” as the [...]
Gatwick Airport criticises Airport Commission’s backing for Heathrow expansion as unfair and “flawed” July 14, 2015 Gatwick has hit back at the Airports Commission, calling its report recommending a Heathrow expansion “flawed” and unfair. The airport criticised the report for falling short of requirements of balance and fairness. After three years’ deliberation led by Sir Howard Davies, the Airports Commission released its long-awaited report two weeks ago, backing a third runway [...]
Gatwick boasts record June numbers as Lords prepare to grill Sir Howard Davies over Heathrow decision July 13, 2015 Gatwick airport today revealed significant growth in long-haul traffic, as the company said June was its 28th consecutive month of passenger growth. Read more: Gatwick executive blasts Heathrow as a monopoly In total, 3.8m people travelled through Gatwick last month, making it the busiest ever June. The south-of-London airport said that 184,000 more passengers [...]
Business group: UK will lose £31bn waiting for new runway July 5, 2015 A lack of airport capacity in London could cost the UK economy up to £31bn by 2030, according to a new report out today. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said that over the time it will take to build a new runway, the country could lose up to £31bn in trade because of a [...]
London can build Crossrail – so why won’t we give Heathrow a new runway? July 5, 2015 Back in 1971, the Roskill Commission on London airport expansion selected Cublington, a sleepy village in Buckinghamshire, as the site for a new South East airport. For those of us old enough to remember, the government rejected the idea, and since then politicians and policymakers have been trying to fix our airport capacity shortfall. Last [...]