Government expectations for Heathrow Airport expansion published

In order to get permission to build a long-hoped-for third runway at London’s Heathrow, the airport will have to ban night flights and adhere to environmental targets established through legally binding promises. The UK government has also given details over why it has chosen to back the creation of a third runway at Heathrow as opposed to the building of a second one at London’s Stanstead Airport.
The nighttime flight ban will last for six and a half hours, while noise limit targets must be met and existing limits on air quality must be maintained. With the expansion of the airport, six new domestic routes will also be added by 2030, with Belfast, Liverpool, Newquay, Humberside, Prestwick and Durham Tees Valley all to get regular services.
The published document, known as the National Policy Strategy for Aviation, has been described by Chris Grayling, Transport Secretary, as “important for the UK both in boosting our economy and jobs and promoting us on the world stage.
“Leaving the EU is a new chapter for Britain and provides us with a great opportunity to forge a new role in the world.
“ By backing the Northwest runway at Heathrow airport, and publishing our proposals, we are sending a clear signal that when we leave the EU, we are open for business.”
The strategy paper will set ground-rules that Heathrow must adhere to, and principal focus will be on the environmental impact of the £16bn (US$20bn) scheme. Part of the requirements will include the guarantee that more than half the passengers coming to Heathrow will use public transport, and that road traffic to the airport will not increase.
Environmental campaigners Greenpeace’s UK executive director, John Sauven, made it clear that the government was “in complete denial about the impacts of a third runway”, and that it was inevitable the project would negatively affect air pollution as well as reducing the chance of hitting climate targets.