HC Deb 16 July 2003 vol 409 cc305-6W
Mrs. Spelman

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the implications of postponing the widening of the M42 on Government proposals for a second runway at Birmingham Airport. [126401]

Mr. McNulty

The recent announcements on the roads strategy and West Midlands Multi Modal Study could not take account of any future airport expansion as no decisions have yet been made. However, we announced that between Junctions 3–7 of the M42, Active Traffic Management measures would be trialled from 2004, which would provide additional capacity at peak times on this stretch of the network, and the case for widening would be reviewed in the light of these trials.

If the Air Transport White Paper were to favour a second runway at Birmingham airport then the major surface access enhancements required to accommodate the associated growth will also need to be identified and reflected in the 10 Year Plan for Transport.

Mr. John Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many air passengers used(a) UK airports and (b) Birmingham International Airport in (i) August and (ii) September in each year from 2000 to 2002. [126454]

Mr. McNulty

The information is as follows:

Thousands
Birmingham UK
2000
August 820.6 18,866.5
September 835.4 18,013.2
2001
August 867.6 19,659.5
september 827.0 17,480.9
2002
August 882.5 20,165.0
september 858.3 18,680.0

Source:

Civil Aviation Authority

Mr. John Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates he has made of the numbers of passengers using(a) UK airports and (b) Birmingham International Airport in (i) August and (ii) September in each year from 2003 to 2030. [126455]

Mr. McNulty

The Department's air traffic forecasts provide annual figures rather than month-by-month projections. The key forecasts for 2015 and 2030 under two scenarios are in the following table, as contained in the consultation document. The RASCO figures include the assumption that significant new capacity is provided in the south-east: SEC assumes no new capacity is provided in the south-east above that already approved through the planning system. All figures are in million passengers per annum (mppa).

mppa
Birmingham
RASCO 2015 16–19
RASCO 2030 28–38
SEC 2015 18
SEC 2030 41

The national forecast range for 2030 is 400–601 mppa from a base in 2000 of 180 mppa.