UK AVIATION is
facing a “crunch” time due to a chronic lack of airport capacity, according to
British Airways chief economist Andrew Sentance.
Speaking at a
Centre for Transport Policy aviation debate in central London, Sentance warned
the “squeezing” of extra capacity from already overcrowded Heathrow and Gatwick
cannot continue and the Government must act now to ensure traffic growth.
His main concern
was the lack of planning for new runway capacity in the southeast to enable
more flights.
Sentance said:
“There is acute pressure on capacity and realistically there will not be a new
runway for at least 10 years. We are up against the buffers of what we can
squeeze out of existing infrastructure.”
BA has urged the
Government to plan for a new southeast runway – a controversial proposal that
is expected to be included in the aviation white paper later this year. The
airline said it cannot compete effectively with European rivals KLM, Lufthansa
and Air France as they have new runways and infrastructure at their hub
airports.
Sentance said the
damaging effects of September 11 would not last and normal passenger growth
would return. Consequently, the UK must meet demand with improved
infrastructure.
He added that
Heathrow traffic will rise to 90 million annual passengers by 2010 – a third
more than now – while Gatwick, Stansted and Luton would also experience
significant rises.
Passenger numbers
are expected to double in 20 years.
“The key
constraints are the runways at Heathrow and Gatwick. We can make sure they are
used more efficiently and use larger aircraft, but this is not healthy for
regional flights which use smaller aircraft,” Sentance said.
He added that
Heathrow, BA’s worldwide hub, was already seeing a decline in destinations
because of capacity constraints and Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris offer more
choice. “Heathrow is falling behind European hubs. The airport is a unique
asset and Government policy should reverse its decline,” said Sentance.