Transport

Q. Is our Air Transport Policy a “Shambles”? Tell us your thoughts.

Our air transport policy is in a shambles. We have the most successful airlines in world working in the UK. None are state owned and yet they are able to compete with best that other countries can offer. Most of our competitors are state owned and receive substantial subsidies. So we start from a positive position as far as the airlines are concerned.

Unfortunately this is not the case when you start talking about airports, particularly the larger ones. Travelling through Heathrow and Gatwick is not for the fainthearted; the ludicrous check-in queues, the ludicrous security requirements, which

The previous government decided they needed to take the ownership of our airports out of state hands and privatise them. It was done in such haste that they ended up with a virtual monopoly. The British Airports Authority (BAA) ended up owning 7 major British airports including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.

The present government has seen some sense and a breakup of this monopoly is about to happen. Hopefully this will increase competition between these airports, although we are holding our collective breaths.

Recently the government has decided that expansion of Heathrow is the way forward. Many disagree. Naturally people who live locally to Heathrow disagree on the basis that homes will be lost and that more aircraft will increase noise and pollution. The Greens disagree purely on pollution and the Tories by stating that in their few the required expansion could easily be contained by building a super rail station at Heathrow, which would connect with the rest of the UK and Europe through Eurostar.

A solution has to be found, which is efficient and affects the least number of people and has the least impact on the environment.

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