§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Transport what are the most recent forecasts by Her Majesty's Government of air travel demand as it affects Heathrow and Gatwick airports; and what was the actual and estimated future level of demand in December 1979.
§ Mr. David MitchellMy Department does not publish air traffic forecasts for individual airports. Since December 1979, the Government have published three sets of long-term forecasts for the United Kingdom and for the London area airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton). The resulting ranges can be summarised as follows: 105W
Millions of Passengers Base Year 1985 1990 1995 2000 Low High Low High Low High Low High 1. Report of the Air Traffic Forecasting Working Party, Department of Trade, December 1979 UK Total 52.2 (1978) 77.4 86.4 97.7 115.8 116.1 143.5 129.1 167.3 London Area 36.8 (1978) 55.0 60.9 69.4 81.2 82.5 100.2 91.7 116.3 2. Report of the Air Traffic Forecasting Working Party, Department of Trade, September 1981 UK Total 56.6 (1979) 63.7 72.8 74.5 99.7 84.1 126.2 95.3 156.4 London Area 39.2 (1979) 44.5 50.9 52.6 70.3 59.7 89.3 67.9 110.9 3. Air Traffic Forecasts for the United Kingdom, Department of Trade, May 1983 UK Total 59.0(1981) — — 75.3 96.8 82.9 121.6 90.5 147.9 London area 39.6(1981) — — 50.8 64.2 56.5 81.0 62.1 89.5