A former Labour cabinet minister is being tipped as becoming an “employment tsar” for Heathrow as the airport pledges to create thousands of “British jobs for British workers”.
Lord Blunkett is to lead an 18-month taskforce established by Heathrow to make sure that most of the 77,000 jobs directly created by an expanded airport go to “home-grown” talent, The Times reported.
The 12-strong panel will analyse Heathrow’s supply chain to ensure that large numbers of school leavers are employed, including through apprenticeships, if the airport receives approval to build a third runway.
However, the resignation of David Cameron, combined with speculation that fierce Heathrow critic Boris Johnson will take over as Conservative party leader have cast a cloud over Heathrow’s chances.
A decision on runways could be further delayed for at least four months.
Heathrow yesterday claimed that expansion must be central to any post-Brexit plan.
New research for the airport by Frontier Economics shows how expansion is vital to retain a competitive advantage for Britain.
“The UK is set to lose its crown as having the biggest hub airport in Europe to France by around 2020, followed by Istanbul in 2022, Frankfurt in 2025 and Amsterdam by 2028,” the report said.
“Without expansion, by 2030, it will only come ahead of Madrid in terms of overall passenger numbers. And while Heathrow will remain capped at 480,000 flight movements a year, all of the other hubs will still be well short of their maximum capacity levels with room to grow above 600,000.”
Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “Now more than ever, Britain needs to underpin its globally recognised economic strength by delivering privately funded infrastructure projects like a third runway, to protect growth and underpin investor confidence.
“Constraints at Heathrow risk us falling behind our European counterparts and if Heathrow falls behind, Britain falls behind. Now is the time to reinforce our place in the world and send a message that the UK is open for business.”