HC Deb 09 November 2001 vol 374 cc467-9W
Mr. David Stewart

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans his Department has to increase runway capacity at(a) Heathrow and (b) Gatwick. [13695]

Mr. Jamieson

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Transport to my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody) on 29 October 2001,Official Report, column 476W.

Mr. David Stewart

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what research his Department has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the commercial use by regional air services of private and military airports in the London area with runways of at least 1,800 metres. [13692]

Mr. Jamieson

In 1998 my Department commissioned a three-part study of business aviation in the south-east. Part 1 (Demand and Capacity studies) was published in 1998 and Part 2 (The Economic impact of Business Aviation) in 1999. These reports cover a number of airports with runway lengths of at least 1,800 metres. Copies of both are available in the House Libraries.

Work on the final part of the study, Future Capacity for Business Aviation, has been subsumed into the on-going South East and East of England Regional Air Services Study (SERAS). The study will include an assessment of the contribution that smaller airports might make to short haul and domestic services.