BAA criticises Conservative Party's plans to reject construction of third runway at Heathrow

UK's BAA reportedly responded to the UK Conservative Party's plans to reject the proposed construction of a third runway at London Heathrow Airport, stating businesses in the country will be negatively effected and the airport will not be able to maintain its hub status if the third runway is not constructed (The Evening Standard, 14-Oct-2009). The airport owner cited research from the British Chamber of Commerce which found the country is losing GBP1 billion p/a by not expanding Heathrow.

BAA: "The Tory [Conservative] party simply doesn't get aviation policy. We're trying to engage with them but it's hard. The message we're getting is that they've made up their minds. But we're going to keep pressing them and trying to discuss it with them. If we don't expand Heathrow we will end up with a country effectively on an airline branch line rather than a main station in Europe. Businesses would relocate to growing European hubs. It would be a disaster," Mike Forster, R3 Director. Source: The Evening Standard, 14-Oct-2009.