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BAR UK's initial response to the Government's proposals for enhancing capacity for the commercial aviation industry

1. BAR UK welcomes the proposals for extra capacity that have been announced. Commercial aviation is a highly competitive business and the demand for our members' products has been strong for the past many years. The recent tragic events in the North East USA depressed demand but the signs are that the normal pattern of growth is resuming.
   
   
2. The fear of the industry in the UK is that Government would seek to suppress demand and thus not allow the airlines to provide capacity to meet the demand. This appears not to have happened but it is also important that the process of consultation be concluded so that a policy for aviation can be determined. For too long we have lacked such a policy and that has worked to the detriment of our industry. One has only to look at the airport infrastructure development undertaken in France, Germany, Holland and Belgium to understand the benefits of having a policy for aviation. In the UK we have developed only one new runway capable of serving both long and short haul aircraft since the end of World War II.
   
   
3. Heathrow has been a success story for the UK. It is the busiest international airport in the world. However, it is already very crowded and there is no relief in sight for the overworked terminals until 2008 when, we hope, the fifth terminal opens. In the 1990s it had an unrivalled portfolio of scheduled services and served more destinations than any other airport in Europe. Today Heathrow serves fewer destinations than it did ten years ago and has dropped to fourth place after Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt and Amsterdam which all serve more destinations. Despite the problems referred to above airlines continue to wish to operate at LHR and upwards of thirty carriers have moved in since the terminal distribution rules were relaxed.
   
   
4. The provision of a new runway at Heathrow built to serve the needs of short haul aircraft would help to accommodate a restoration of UK domestic services that have been lost over recent years. It would also allow European connections to be maintained and strengthened. The main runways can be reserved for those aircraft that require the extra length they offer and when combined with the use of a mixed mode system, would allow for traffic growth to continue.
   
   
5. We realise that there are concerns in the communities at all our airports about the noise of aircraft operations. However, the problem is noise and not the number of aircraft movements. We suggest that the reduction of the current areas affected by aircraft noise should be the focus of attention and look forward to an involvement in the discussions on ways of achieving this.
   
   
6. The Government have acknowledged that our industry pays the known external costs (noise nuisance and pollution) of its operations by means of the Air Passenger Duty. This indirect tax on passengers amounts to more than £1 billion a year. It is important to meet the need for extra capacity. Failure to do so will impact adversely on the travelling public, those employed in the industry and on the country.