Lift off: Rishi Sunak to rebuff ban on airport expansion

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Transport Reporter

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Rishi Sunak’s popularity has hit its lowest levels ever, according to a fresh poll.
Rishi Sunak’s popularity has hit its lowest levels ever, according to a fresh poll.

Rishi Sunak is set to ignore demands from the governments’ climate advisers aimed at stopping airport’s from expanding, according to reports.

The government will reject formal advice from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) that all airport expansion should be halted in the UK, as the Prime Minister looks to quell growing backlash against the economic cost of climate policies.

It is one of the most significant indicators that the government will toughen its net zero stance in a bid to garner support from Conservative grassroot voters.

Any decision to flout the CCC’s advice sets the stage for a significant legal battle with environmental groups and campaigners, after its recommendations were given “considerable weight” through a High Court judgement last year.

The disclosures, first reported in the Telegraph, will be a welcome relief for UK airports.

Many hubs are in the planning or implementation stages of plans to expand capacity and boost resilience in the wake of pandemic-era lows.

Gatwick has submitted plans for a £2.2bn second runway, a move that its boss Stewart Wingate told City PM was vital for its future recovery from Covid-19.

London Stansted and Luton both recently proposed significant infrastructure expansions at their hubs, with the former already receiving permission from the Planning Inspectorate (PI) last year to increase annual passenger capacity to 43m.

But other major airports have faced roadblocks, often in the form of political backlash or opposition from pesky local authorities.

London City, the capital’s business travel hub, has been locked in a fight with Newham Council over plans that would see its passenger capacity jump from 6.5m to 9m and provide an estimated 4,000 jobs and £700m in GVA to the capital.

Chief executive Robert Sinclair told City PM last month that the expansion would be “critically important” to maintaining the capital’s international connectivity amid challenges from other global cities post-Brexit.

And the UK’s biggest airport Heathrow has for years been attempting to construct a third runway, with the project currently on ice after being paused during the pandemic.

A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesperson told City PM the government remains “supportive of airport expansion where it can be delivered in a sustainable way.”

“Airport growth, and the aviation sector as a whole, has a key role to play in boosting our global connectivity and helping grow the economy.”