WTTC Calls for Faster Expansion of UK Airports

The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has given a warning that Great Britain risks dropping from its position as the world’s fifth largest travel and tourism economy, if the need for airport expansion is not addressed urgently.

Industry leaders met in London to draw attention to their concerns about what they called “deepening infrastructure constraints.” They said Britain’s main hub airports were not keeping up with demand for foreign travel and inbound tourism.

The United Kingdom’s travel and tourism economy is expected to generate over £190 billion ($380 billion) in 2007 and is growing fast. The industry accounts for 8.5 percent of employment and contributes 9.1 percent of GDP.

WTTC president Jean-Claude Baumgarten gave a warning that the UK government must act now to maintain this strong economic position and failure to act would impact heavily on the country’s wider economy.

Industry leaders have called for a streamlining of planning approval for airport expansion. “The current focus is on climate change and this industry cannot be demonized as the cause. It is quite simple –efficient infrastructure and less congestion will have a positive impact on the environment,” said Baumgarten.

The WTTC meeting was held in London’s business district, Canary Wharf, while elsewhere in the city a public enquiry was underway into proposals to expand Stansted Airport, London’s third airport after Heathrow and Gatwick.

The government wants to see a new runway at Stansted “as soon as possible” under a 30-year plan for air travel published in 2003. But planning permission was refused by the local council in the county of Essex where Stansted is located, and the plans are now subject to a wider public enquiry.

In its business case for expansion at Stansted, the airport operator, British Airports Authority, says additional capacity is needed to meet demand for air travel not only in London but in the whole of south-east England. It serves not only London but the cities of Cambridge, Peterborough, Norwich and the whole of eastern England.

The government plan originally envisaged a second runway at Stansted being built by 2011 but that timetable has slipped to 2015 at the earliest, in part because of the public consultations that the government is obliged to undertake under British planning laws.

New runways and expanded terminal facilities are needed also at Heathrow where the fifth terminal is due to come on stream in a few months and plans have been made for a sixth terminal and a third runway.

New runways are needed to meet increasing demand at Birmingham, and at Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness in Scotland. Manchester International should get additional capacity and Bristol a runway extension and a new terminal. All are subject to the scrutiny of local planning authorities and all face vociferous objections.

The UK’s convoluted system of planning applications, public consultations and enquiries into major infrastructure developments is the focus of the WTTC’s concern and every proposal for a new runway is met with vocal protests and opposition which are time-consuming and cause costly delays.