Expand Heathrow or lose business, FTA warns, as decision looms

Great Britain will lose airfreight and other related business to the European Union if it fails to remain “connected with its world markets through a global hub,” the U.K. freight advocacy group Freight Transport Association (FTA) warned.

Translation: Make a choice between expanding Heathrow or Gatwick, post-haste. “In a post-Brexit world, Britain cannot rely on continental airports for access to its global markets,” said FTA deputy chief executive James Hookham. “The need to maintain and develop a U.K. global hub airport is as important for future airfreight needs as it is for passengers.”

The FTA has come down on the side of a Heathrow expansion, given the airport’s long-standing status as an airfreight hub for the island nation. “We need a decision from government in favor of Heathrow expansion that will allow British shippers to maintain direct connections with the rest of the world and to keep Britain trading,” Hookham said.

The government, for its part, said it will announce its decision between Heathrow or Gatwick airport next week, after decades of delays.

The BBC has reported that, in a breach of norms, the decision will be taken by a sub-committee, chaired by Prime Minister Theresa May, rather than by the full cabinet.

MPs will not vote on the decision for at least another year. However, select ministers will have the opportunity to speak out against the Heathrow expansion, for a limited period, which the BBC interpreted as evidence a third runway at Heathrow will be backed. Letting ministers denounce the project in an official capacity allows them to oppose the decision, while avoiding resignations, and makes it politically viable.

The BBC’s transport correspondent, Richard Westcott, said that MPs will be “plump for a third runway at Heathrow.” However, he noted that the resolution “will not be binding.”