Wired-GOV Newswire (news from other organisations)
 Printable version
|
CBI comments on further aviation capacity delay
The CBI responded to the delay on the decision to expand aviation capacity.
Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director-General said:
“Delaying this decision on an issue of critical importance to the future prosperity of the UK is deeply disappointing.
“We urgently need to increase our runway capacity to spur trade growth, investment and job creation. Just eight new routes to emerging markets could boost our exports by up to £1 billion a year.
“But by 2025 - the earliest a new runway would be built - London’s airports could already be operating at full capacity and the longer we wait the further we fall behind the likes of Amsterdam and Paris. If we don’t have a new runway up and running by 2030 the cost to the UK will be as much as £5.3 billion a year in lost trade to the BRICs alone.
“It is of course essential that environmental conditions are met. But the Airports Commission spent three years analysing impartial evidence, at a cost of £20 million, and the National Infrastructure Commission was set up just two months ago to take an evidence-based approach to our needs. We cannot fall into the habit of simply commissioning new evidence, instead of the Government taking the tough decisions needed at the end of the process.”
