A delegation from Heathrow will visit sites today in Yorkshire and Humberside in the running to be off-site construction centres for the London hub’s expansion.
Aero Centre Yorkshire, Doncaster Sheffield airport’s wider 1,600 acre site, and British Steel in Scunthorpe are among 11 sites on a 65-strong long-list in the running to be offsite construction centres for the planned expansion of Heathrow.
The final four logistics hubs will help ensure that businesses across the UK will form part of the airport’s supply chain, enabling Heathrow’s new runway to deliver a “legacy of construction excellence” in different locations around the UK.
The expansion of Heathrow is set to deliver 11,200 new jobs and £12 billion worth of wider economic benefits across Yorkshire and Humberside.
The region is also set to benefit from more connections to Heathrow, with HS2 set to provide faster journeys to the airport.
The nationwide tour of the long-listed logistics hub sites comes ahead of an expected Parliamentary vote on the policy framework in the first half of the year.
Components of the airport will be pre-assembled at the logistics hubs before being transported in consolidated loads to the airport.
Doncaster Sheffield airport chief executive Steve Gill said: “We were delighted to welcome the team from Heathrow to Aero Centre Yorkshire to showcase how our site offers a prime location for a Heathrow Logistics Hub.
“A hub would fits seamlessly with the Airport’s 20 year masterplan as part of a much larger three million sq ft of logistics, construction and manufacturing cluster to be developed at the airport.
“With dedicated airport road links already in place, and proposals to implement a dedicated airport rail station connecting the East Coast Mainline directly to site, we feel confident that our proposal suits Heathrow’s requirements.”
Heathrow chairman Lord Deighton said: “Heathrow expansion is a national infrastructure project that will benefit the whole country, including right across Yorkshire and the Humber.
“Logistics Hubs are instrumental in our aim to ensure that expansion spreads the huge potential of tens of billions of pounds in economic benefits across the UK and will help to transform the construction industry and build a lasting skills legacy for future generations in various locations across the country and beyond London.”