§ Lord Swinfenasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will review the policy set out in the Airports Policy White Paper 1985 (Cmnd. 9542); and whether they will make a statement.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Transport (Lord Brabazon of Tara)The strategy set out in theAirports Policy White Paper needs to be carried forward in the light of latest expectations about the level of air traffic from 1995 through into the next century. The Civil Aviation Authority already has a duty under Section 16(2) of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 to consider and make recommendations to the Secretary of State for Transport about airport capacity, and my right honourable friend has today written to the chairman formally asking for advice on the adequacy of airport capacity in the UK in the period to 2005. He has asked for a report by July next year.
In view of the authority's recent announcement that the Central Control Function will not produce a substantial increase in useable airspace capacity before 1995, he has also asked the chairman to let us have rather earlier a separate report on strategies for making good use of the airspace we shall have available until then.
A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library.