The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), the leading professional body for those working in transport and logistics, has responded to the Government's decision to accept the Airports Commission's recommendation for additional runway capacity and to undertake further work on the environmental impacts before deciding on the location for that capacity. This additional work will enable certainty to be established about the conditions to be attached to approval.
The Airports Commission's recommendation for a Heathrow North West Runway option was also preferred by the CILT, primarily on transport and logistics considerations, but subject to strict environmental conditions. CILT suggests that the Government should use these proposed conditions as the basis of its further work.
CILT's proposed conditions would apply once the new runway is operational and provide a workable mechanism that would provide the certainty to both the airport and the community, and are as follows:
- Aircraft movements should not be permitted to increase unless airport-related air quality is within EU limits
- Aircraft movements should not be permitted to increase until the number of people within the 55dB Lden noise contour is below 500,000 and equivalent levels set for other noise metrics
- Passenger numbers should not be permitted to grow unless there is no growth in airport-related road traffic beyond current levels
Because these measures are related to quantified levels of air quality, noise exposure and road traffic, they are absolute and indefinite, and therefore provide certainty for all parties. On the other hand, further work on forecasting future impacts, while it might be useful, will not give the absolute guarantee that the CILT's proposals provide. A ban on night flights and various mitigation measures as recommended by the Airports Commission should be considered, but they would also not guarantee a particular level of maximum impact.
CILT's proposed conditions relate to the Heathrow North West Runway, which was its preference. If the Government decides to select one of the other options (Heathrow Extended Northern Runway or Gatwick Second Runway), different conditions would be needed, although the principle of aircraft movement or air passenger caps related to particular levels of impact would be just as applicable to these options.
CILT also welcomes the Government statement that the mechanism for delivering planning consent is to be an Airports National Policy Statement. This should be brought before Parliament as early as possible, to enable the promoter to follow with a Development Consent Order to be confirmed within the maximum timescale set out in the legislation. The Airports National Policy Statement should cover not just the location of an additional runway for the South East, but also be a framework for a long term strategy for the whole of the UK.
CILT’s submissions to the Government stated that any expansion of runway capacity should not be pre-funded by the airlines, and the proposals should be approved on the basis that no such prefunding should be permitted.
CILT also recommended that it should be a condition of any approval for any new runway capacity that slots are reserved for key domestic routes.
The selection of the Heathrow North West Runway will result in new arrival and departure routes. There is a process set out by the Civil Aviation Authority for the Airspace Change Sponsor to consult on these routes; recent experience has been that such changes have raised major concerns in affected communities. CILT therefore recommends that the required consultation should commence as soon as possible on this specific aspect, to ensure that communities are fully aware of the situation.