HC Deb 14 February 1991 vol 185 cc537-8W
Mr. Wilshire

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if, following receipt of Civil Aviation Authority report CAP578 on 22 January, he has commissioned any research into the number of spare slots at Heathrow airport.

Mr. McLoughlin

The Civil Aviation Authority noted in the consultation document it issued in November the number of unused slots at Heathrow in a busy week during summer 1990. More generally, the authority addressed the question of spare capacity at Heathrow in its advice last year on the United Kingdom's longer-term airport needs.

Mr. Wilshire

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has asked the Civil Aviation Authority to undertake research into the implications of the recommendations of Civil Aviation Authority report CAP578 on the number of spare slots that would be applied for at Heathrow airport.

Mr. McLoughlin

No. The Civil Aviation Authority has advised in CAP578 that the effects of abolishing Heathrow rules one, two and three are unpredictable, in part because they must depend on decisions which might be taken by foreign airlines on whether to seek to mount services at Heathrow.