Aviation capacity in the UK: emerging thinking

The 7 October 2013 speech by Sir Howard Davies, Chair of the Airports Commission sets out the Airport Commission’s emerging thinking on airport capacity in the UK.

It sets out a number of the key arguments that have been made against expanding aviation capacity in the UK, namely that:

• there will not be sufficient growth in demand to justify further expansion
• the market will be able to accommodate expected demand growth by using existing spare runway capacity
• continuing growth in aviation would not be consistent with the achievement of the UK’s statutory climate change targets
• the government should manage demand growth by supporting the use of airports outside the south east of England

In each case, the speech summarises the commission’s current analysis. To further inform its work on these issues, the Airports Commission welcomes comments on the emerging thinking set out in the speech.

The commission will present its conclusions on the UK’s future aviation needs in its interim report by the end of 2013.