The long-running saga of expansion of air capacity in the south-east of England took another twist with a judgement of the Supreme Court today.

The unanimous judgement saw the Supreme Court reversing an earlier decision of The Court of Appeal which had ruled that the government’s Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) – which effectively gave the go-ahead for a third runway at Heathrow – was unlawful.

The Court of Appeal said that ANPS failed “to take into account the Government’s commitment to the provisions of the Paris Agreement on climate change”.

Appeal Court rules government’s decision on Heathrow expansion “unlawful”

In addition, since then, the government’s environmental commitments have been strengthened. Despite this, the Supreme Court ruled that the government had been correct to base its decision on domestic legislation rather than its commitment under the Paris Agreement. The court said there was evidence that the Secretary of State had taken the Paris Agreement into account and, to the extent that its obligations were already covered by the measures in the Climate Change Act 2008, had ensured that these were incorporated into the ANPS framework.

The decision means that Heathrow can now apply for planning permission for the third runway. A spokesperson for the airport said that  “This is the right result for the country…. Only by expanding the UK’s hub airport can we connect all of Britain to all of the growing markets of the world, helping to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in every nation and region of our country.”

“Demand for aviation will recover from Covid, and the additional capacity at an expanded Heathrow will allow Britain as a sovereign nation to compete for trade and win against our rivals in France and Germany.”

Nevertheless, the previous estimate of the Third Runway being operational by 2030 has probably now slipped as a result of the dramatic fall in traffic due to the Covid pandemic. Heathrow’s Terminal 4 is being closed until the end of next year and the airport will see only 22 million passengers this year, down from 81 million in 2019.

Heathrow argues that aviation will recover by the mid 2020s and that will mean that the third runway will be needed in the next decade.

heathrow.com