§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the cost of constructing a 1,400 metre runway in the south-east of England; and what costs would be incurred by the construction of a 2,000 metre runway. [4471]
382W
Ms JacksonNo assessment has been made of the costs of runway construction, which would vary greatly depending on the site chosen.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the time required to(a) construct and (b) bring into operation a new runway in south-east England. [4474]
Ms JacksonThe time required for constructing a new runway and bringing it into operation would depend on the nature of the particular proposal and on the planning procedures followed.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will reintroduce traffic distribution rules; and what plans he has to direct charter services to specific airports in the London area. [4473]
Ms JacksonTraffic distribution rules remain in place at Heathrow and Gatwick which prevent all-cargo services and general aviation from using the airport at peak periods. There are no plans to reintroduce them for scheduled and charter services. In any case, powers do not exist to direct services to an airport—only to exclude them.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proposals he has to address problems relating to runway capacity in the south-east of England. [4539]
Ms JacksonWork has been under way since February 1995 to assess the implications of runway capacity enhancement at Heathrow and the feasibility of a close parallel runway at Gatwick. When completed, these studies will help to inform the assessment by Ministers of all available options.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if the extra slots made available at Heathrow by the proposed BA/AA alliance will be allocated to services to regional airports. [4401]
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsI have been asked to reply.
The previous President of the Board of Trade announced on 6 December 1996 that he intended to refer the proposed alliance between British Airways and American Airlines to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, unless suitable undertakings were given by the parties to the alliance. He took the view that, without such undertakings, the alliance would be likely to lead to a significant loss of actual and potential competition on air routes between the UK and the US. He asked the Director General of Fair Trading to seek appropriate undertakings from the parties, and also to consider views from all interested third parties on the undertakings and other conditions which he proposed. The proposed undertakings and conditions included the release by the alliance of up to 168 take-off and landing slots at Heathrow. These slots were to be made available for use by competitor airlines only on transatlantic services, in order to ensure that the slot release addressed the competition concerns raised by the alliance.
383WMy right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has not yet made a decision on the proposed alliance. The Office of Fair Trading and the Department of Trade and Industry are still considering the case in consultation with the European Commission.