The London Assembly has passed a motion reaffirming its opposition to the expansion of Heathrow Airport and suggesting more use could be made of spare capacity at other airports serving the South East.
The motion was passed 13 votes to 7 at a meeting of the full Assembly in response to a recommendation in an interim report published last month by Howard Davies’s Airports Commission shortlisting Heathrow alongside Gatwick as suitable for expansion.
Caroline Pidgeon AM, who proposed the motion, said: “I am really disappointed to see Heathrow back on the table. Airport capacity in London is currently under-used, in fact some London airports have more than half of their runway slots free. Rather than inflict further misery on the residents of West London, the Davies Commission should rule out expansion of Heathrow and focus on better use of capacity at other South East airports.”
The motion backed Davies’s proposals for improving ground transport links to existing airports.
The motion recalled its recent Transport Committee report “Airport Capacity in London” which ruled out expansion of Heathrow and identified significant spare capacity at other airports in the South East.
Opposition to Heathrow expansion
The Mayor of London has repeatedly made clear his opposition to Heathrow expansion and preference for a new four runway airport to the east of the capital (often referred to as Boris Island).
The Assembly also voted in July 2012 against Heathrow expansion.
In 2013 residents in three London boroughs said a huge no to Heathrow Airport expanding.
Richmond upon Thames and Hillingdon Councils held borough-wide ballots with joint results showing that 71% of people objected to a third runway, 73% did not want to see any more flights in or out of the airport.
