Let’s get Heathrow done says airport in response to unlawful expansion plan

Heathrow Airport has played down a court ruling that could prevent a third runway from being built.

Echoing Boris Johnson’s “Get Brexit Done” speech in December last year, the airport has replied to today’s Supreme Court ruling that expansion would be illegal with a similar “Let’s get Heathrow done” statement.

The Court of Appeal ruled the government's decision to support and approve the third runway at Heathrow was unlawful because it failed to account for climate change concerns and targets aligned to the Paris Agreement.

This agreement’s aim is to “strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels”.

However, Heathrow has said today’s Supreme Court decision is “eminently fixable”.

“Judicial reviews are a common feature of major infrastructure projects, and today’s announcement explicitly does not prevent Heathrow expansion from moving ahead,” the airport said in a statement. 

“The judgment clearly states that this ruling does not mean Heathrow expansion should not be delivered, or that the Airports National Policy Statement is not compatible with the UK’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions. 

“We will appeal to the Supreme Court on this one issue and are confident that we will be successful. In the meantime, we are ready to work with the government to fix the issue that the court has raised.

“Heathrow has taken a lead in getting the UK aviation sector to commit to a plan to get to Net Zero emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Accord. Expanding Heathrow, Britain’s biggest port and only hub, is essential to achieving the Prime Minister’s vision of Global Britain. We will get it done the right way, without jeopardising the planet’s future. Let’s get Heathrow done.”

Cait Hewitt, deputy director of the Aviation Environment Federation, said: “This is a huge win for the climate, and leaves Heathrow’s third runway plans in tatters… it’s very hard to see how the government could now ever demonstrate that a third runway could be reconciled with the necessary scale of climate action. 

“This ruling should mark the end of plans for any new runways in the UK. The government should stand up to the airports lobby, drop its support for airport expansion, and invest instead in low-carbon transport and supporting British tourism." 

The ruling follows the rejection of Bristol Airport’s planning application to expand by councillors on the basis of environmental concerns, as well as a rejection of expansion at Stansted.