HC Deb 01 December 2003 vol 415 c4W
Mr. Ben Chapman

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to assess the effect on regional economies of a third runway at Heathrow Airport. [140546]

Mr. McNulty

A third runway at Heathrow, in common with additional runways at other South East airports, would lead to more short-haul services including services from the UK regions to London. The benefits to regional passengers from providing more capacity at South East airports are described in Chapter 3 of "The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: South East".