22. Mr. C. I. Orr-Ewingasked the Minister of Civil Aviation if he will institute an inquiry to consider whether it is essential and economical in land and money to plan future civil airports with, three runways; and, in particular, the requirement that each runway must be 7,000 feet long and have a uniform width of 200 feet throughout its length.
§ Mr. MaudlingThe number of runway directions planned for a new civil aerodrome is governed by the local wind distribution and by the maximum crosswind acceptable by the types of aircraft for which the aerodrome is planned. No runway is constructed unless these conditions make it essential. The dimensions quoted by my hon. Friend refer only to the main runway direction on an aerodrome planned for use by large civil aircraft.
Mr. Orr-EwingWhilst appreciating that this is a matter for international agreement, may I ask my hon. Friend to consider whether it is not time to ask aircraft designers to make adjustments to the design of aircraft so that they do not need increasingly long runways of enormous width? This is a cost factor which is beginning to play a very great part in civil aviation, and all countries cannot afford to have runways which take up 30 acres of land and which cost very large sums of money.
§ Mr. MaudlingIt is a fact that both manufacturers and operators of aircraft are inclined to require additional runways for the take-off and landing of their machines. This is a matter which has given concern to Her Majesty's Government, and we are doing what we cart to influence both manufacturers and operators in the direction of lessening their runway requirements.