§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proposals are under consideration by his Department for additional runways at Heathrow; and what is the status of these proposals. [128869]
§ Mr. MullinAs the then Minister for Transport announced on 11 March 1999,Official Report, columns 360–61W, the South East and East of England Regional Air Services (SERAS) study will examine a wide range of options and has started from the position that nothing is ruled in and nothing is ruled out.
Options will be appraised through a process of successive sifts. A very large number of options will be considered during the sifting process, which is designed to reduce the options to a manageable number, so that those can be appraised in sufficient detail to support a meaningful public consultation at the end of the study.
Until then, it would be premature to comment on the scope or status of any option.