Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has said that a decision over where to site a new runway will be taken “shortly”.
A decision will be made “shortly” on where to expand airport capacity in the south east of England, Chris Grayling said on Sunday.
The decision has been deliberated for years, with the most recent delay due to the uncertainty caused by the European Referendum.
The three short-listed options include a third runway at Heathrow, a new runway at Gatwick and an extension of an existing runway at Heathrow.
My Grayling said:
– They’re all very well crafted proposals, they’re all very interesting, they’ve all got great potential. We need to decide which is best for Britain.
– You will get an announcement shortly. We haven’t taken the decision yet.”
The Davies commission recommended Heathrow’s plan in 2015, which made Heathrow seem like the obvious choice.
The Heathrow plan involves building a new 3,500m runway about two miles north of the two runways Heathrow already has, at an estimates cost of £18.6Bn.
The airport has also offered £700M in property and noise compensation, including a +25% above market value offer for those within the designated zone.
Heathrow Airport is one of the world’s busiest airports, handling 70 million passengers in 2012.
The airport operates at 98% of its capacity, which is much more than other major London airports and rival hubs in Europe.
The decision is controversial within politics, with some senior government ministers opposing the expansion at Heathrow, with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson opposing the extension at Heathrow, saying it is “basically undeliverable”.
Education Secretary, Justine Greening, also opposes the expansion, expressing concern over additional noise pollution for her west London constituency.
Last month, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said that the government should choose Gatwick for new airport capacity in the southeast, following the announcement that the airport would boost its investment by an addition £200M.
– Gatwick is the front door to London for millions of visitors to our city and I salute their decision to spend another £200m on improvements to the airport. They have put together a formidable plan that is a fantastic display of their confidence in London.
– The new Prime Minister has a very important decision to make regarding new airport capacity, and I urge her to rule as swiftly as possible in favour of a second runway at Gatwick, which would bring substantial economic benefits.”
