§ Sir John Hallasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what effect the opening of the Channel Tunnel will have on the number of passengers using Heathrow and other existing airports.
§ Mr. RipponThe Civil Aviation Authority and the Channel Tunnel consultants have both estimated that about 4½ million passengers would be diverted from the London airports to the Channel Tunnel in 1980–81. According to the CAA this would leave a passenger demand of about 58 million at the London156W airports in 1980 and about 84 million by 1985, by which time 6 million would be diverted to the tunnel. As I explained to the House on 23rd October, I shall bring this assessment up to date in n[...] report to Parliament under Section 2 [...] the Maplin Development Act.