Fresh delay signalled for new airport runway
"Sinking Without A Trace"
From todays FT, the whole project may be not be sinking but its listing to starboard....badly !
See below
Ministers will not provide a formal response to the Davies commission on aviation until the end of the year in a move that will provoke fears of prevarication over Britain’s next new runway.
The independent group will issue its final report in late June and will recommend either Gatwick or Heathrow as the optimal site for a new runway in the southeast. The report will clear the way for a political decision on the long-delayed issue.
But one Whitehall official said there would be no immediate response beyond a cursory acceptance of the report by senior ministers. A more detailed reaction would not be issued until “before Christmas”, he said.
That will come as a blow to aviation executives who had expected a full government response in the late summer.
Business groups have repeatedly called on the government to make up its mind and authorise a runway somewhere close to London to deal with future capacity constraints.
The signal of a delay reinforces the reality that there is no political consensus on where to build another airport given the huge complications around the two main options. Many business groups would prefer the expansion of Heathrow over Gatwick because the former is an existing hub with links to most destinations around the world.
Yet approving a third runway at Heathrow would anger several cabinet ministers who have staked out positions against the project, including Justine Greening, Greg Hands and Philip Hammond.
There is also opposition from figures including Zac Goldsmith, MP for Richmond, who declared on Tuesday that he would run for London mayor next year. Mr Goldsmith is a vehement critic of the third runway and has threatened to resign as an MP if it goes ahead. Boris Johnson, the current mayor, has promised to lie down in front of the bulldozers if the project is approved.
The aviation commission is chaired by Sir Howard Davies, former head of the CBI, who is about to become the chair of RBS.
If ministers wait six months to respond to the Davies Commission it will prompt anxiety at the Department for Transport, where officials are keen for a speedier decision.
Civil servants say they need to start work on any proposed legislation and to prepare for legal challenges that are considered almost inevitable.
The transport department refused to comment.