Sheffield Chamber of Commerce comment on Heathrow Airport Expansion

26th October 2016

Sheffield Chamber of Commerce today commented on the government's decision to approve the construction of a new runway at Heathrow Airport, Raising some concerns about the decision to construct a third runway, Executive Director Richard Wright, said "There is no doubt the country needs more capacity, particularly in the South East, so its good that this project has moved a step forward.

"However, I remain concerned that this will not end up as a national investment, but as an investment purely focused on serving a relatively narrow market. I would like to see one of the conditions of approval being that sufficient slots are reserved at the airport for regional connectivity with airports like Doncaster Sheffield (DSA). "For this investment to work for our region we need to be able to get regular services from DSA to Heathrow and then onto the long haul flights around the globe. Terminal 5 was originally approved with Heathrow promising these slots but they never materialised and we were left without. They should not be able to wriggle out of it this time."