A letter from Ruth Kelly

Department for Transport

Airports Policy Division
Zone 1/26
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London
SW1P4DR

Email: airports@dft.gsLgov.uk

Web site: http://www.dft.gov.uk/

03 March 2008
Dear Mr Lister,

'Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport' consultation.

Thank you for your letter to Ruth Kelly of 9 December regarding expansion at Heathrow airport. As you are aware, the Government has been consulting on proposals for the development of Heathrow airport over the next 20 years or more. This closed on 27 February 2008.

Your letter will be treated as a formal response to this consultation. It has now been logged and passed to our response analysis team.

In response to the questions raised in your letter, aviation is crucial to supporting a service based economy such as the UK. Many people value their foreign holidays very highly. But we have to make sure the rapid growth we are seeing in aviation is sustainable, which is why we will only allow expansion within strict environmental limits. We are pushing very hard for aviation to be included in the EU emissions trading scheme so that any increase in CO2 emissions from aviation is matched by reductions elsewhere.

But it is equally important to understand that if Heathrow is allowed to become uncompetitive, the flights and routes it loses will simply move elsewhere. All it will do is shift the emissions across the Channel - at the expense of jobs and the economy here. It may make us feel purer, but it will make us poorer too, with no beneficial impact on the planet.

Currently there is no international agreement on how a nation's 'share' of flight emissions should be calculated. If we were to consider should emissions from a flight operated by an Irish airline flying from London to Madrid flying over French airspace, who is responsible for these emissions at a national level? Such truly international industries ideally require global solutions and we are pressing for progress through both the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The Climate Change Bill recognises these complex issues regarding international aviation and shipping emissions and therefore allows the Secretary of State to include international aviation once there is a change in European or International law.

The 2003 'Future of Air Transport' White Paper outlined Government support for a third runway at Heathrow, conditional on meeting strict local noise and air quality limits. It also said that scope for making greater use of the two existing runways should be explored, subject to the same environmental conditions. The consultation presents the outcome of our assessment of these options and invites views. We want our final policy decisions to be based on the full range of evidence including that from those most directly affected.

The reasons for supporting a third runway, subject to the local environmental limits, have not changed since the time of the White paper: Heathrow is still constrained and there is still a demand for increased capacity in the South East of England. However, support is also still conditional on the Government being satisfied that the White Paper environmental limits can be met. We are now complying with the White Paper commitments that there should be consultation on these issues.

This consultation is not re-opening the issue of expansion from first principles. Rather it is presenting the evidence on which the Government now believes, on the basis of extensive further work, that those conditions can be met, and asking if people agree. On other issues, such as mixed mode or westerly preference, there are questions which allow respondents to support no change from the present position, if they wish.

Whilst the 'Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport' consultation has now closed copies of the consultation materials can still be ordered by telephone on 0845 600 4170 or by emailing DFTINF@capita.co.uk.

If you have any queries please contact the Department's Airports Policy Division on 020 7944 3234 or email airports@dft.gsi.gov.uk

Thank you for taking the time to register your views.

Yours sincerely
Hannah Morton