Yesterday I attended the Airports National Policy Statement in the House of Commons. The UK aviation sector is one of the largest in the world, contributing £22bn to the economy and servicing 285m passengers. Gatwick has a proud role in an industry which must expand to meet demand and secure our connectivity with markets which are critical to global growth. I am pleased that after a decade of delay we have a firm Government commitment to expansion at Heathrow. Heathrow’s economic case (with freight included), existing infrastructure and connectivity made it the right choice, in the national interest, for expansion. It is though also a relief that our congested train lines and roads and existing demand for housing and public services should not be further stretched by a massive expansion in local journeys and population resulting from the construction of an additional runway locally.
