Growing aviation does not conflict with protecting the environment, says transport secretary
Growing the UK’s aviation sector is not a trade-off against protecting the environment, the Transport Secretary has said.
Speaking at the annual dinner of the trade association AirportsUK, Heidi Alexander said she will “never accept the false trade-off” that pits the two issues against each other.
The UK government has placed airport expansion at the heart of its plans to kickstart the economy and boost growth.
But critics have questioned whether the benefits of increasing airport capacity outweigh the negatives.
Business travel has failed to recover from the pandemic and there are big questions over the aviation industry’s reliance on the biofuel SAF to hit net-zero targets.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves gave her support for Heathrow’s long-delayed and highly controversial third runway in January.
Ministers have also got behind proposals at London Gatwick and Luton, having already announced a £1.1bn investment in Stansted Airport as part of the Autumn Budget.
“I honestly believe we can do this,” Alexander told an audience of aviation executives in London.
In a signal of her support for Gatwick’s £2.2bn bid for a second runway, the decision for which was pushed back in February, she added major airports were “bursting at the seams” after capacity issues in the South East have been “long-ignored.”
“My job has to be balancing the economic benefits of expansion with our social and environmental commitments.
“That underpinned my announcement a few weeks ago on Gatwick, where I set a clear path for expansion if certain conditions are met.”
A decision on Luton Airport’s expansion proposal, which involves the construction of a second terminal, is due on April 3.