§ 51. Mr. Barnesasked the President of the Board of Trade by what date a decision will have to be taken on the siting of London's fourth airport in order to meet the civil aviation needs of London and the South-East from the mid-1980s.
§ Mr. JayOn present estimates the needs of London and the South East can be satisfied until the 1990's by the development of Stansted, which has a four runway potential and the progressive increase in the capacity of the other existing airports in the area. It is not realistic to plan airport requirements beyond this remote date, as there may by then, for example, be far-reaching changes in the airfield characteristics of aircraft.