§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with domestic airlines regarding the proposal to levy a charge of £15 per passenger flying into Heathrow.
§ Mr. David MitchellNone, yet. The possibility of levying a supplementary charge on some passengers using domestic services at Heathrow has been mentioned in some recent newspaper stories. It is one of a number of ways of restraining demand for the use of that airport when the fourth terminal opens. I plan to issue shortly a consultation document inviting the views of airlines and other interested parties on a range of options of which a levy is one; and their responses will be carefully considered before any final decisions are taken.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the proposal by his Department to levy a charge of £15 per passenger on domestic airlines flying into Heathrow; whether the proposal applied to other United Kingdom airports; what income such a scheme would generate; and what calculation he has made of its effect on the profit or loss of each of the United Kingdom domestic airlines affected.
§ Mr. David MitchellI refer my hon. Friend to the answer that I gave to his earlier question today. No detailed work has yet been carried out on the level at which such a supplementary charge would have to be set in order to reduce demand for access to Heathrow or on the implications of the charge for domestic airlines.