Heathrow claims a new independent poll of MPs “explodes the myth” that a third runway at the airport is politically undeliverable.
The poll by independent polling company Ipsos MORI shows 91 per cent of MPs who back expansion at the UK’s largest airport think it would get parliamentary approval.
The poll also shows that 58 per cent of MPs think Heathrow is the best choice from the options left on the Airports Commission’s shortlist. This is compared to 13 per cent for a second runway at Gatwick.
Both airports have been shortlisted for potential new runways by the government-appointed Airports Commission, which will be making its final recommendation for expansion in the south-east in summer 2015 after the next general election.
Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye, said the poll shows more and more people are backing Heathrow as the best solution for the UK hub capacity crisis.
“The countries Britain needs to trade with are changing fast and only a hub airport can provide direct access to these markets,” said Holland-Kaye.
“There is growing momentum and support for a third runway at Heathrow. This week alone, Britain’s biggest business organisation – the CBI – has come out in support of a hub airport; the Airports Commission has said that it recognises the need for a hub airport but has ruled out a new airport in the Thames Estuary; and now this poll shows MPs back a third runway at Heathrow as the best solution for the UK.”
The proposal for a new hub airport in the Thames Estuary, dubbed ‘Boris Island’, was last week rejected due to cost and environmental concerns.
Business lobby group the CBI has described the UK’s lack of hub capacity as a “ticking time bomb” and said that UK business wants action and politicians to commit to spades in the ground by the end of the next Parliament.
The CBI published research showing that while all airports have a role to play in growing the UK’s connectivity, not all airports play the same role.