Heathrow is the UK’s only hub airport and one of Britain’s most important economic assets. But today Heathrow is full, operating at 99% of permitted runway capacity and vulnerable to foreign competition. Without further growth, Heathrow will not be able to meet the demands of business and leisure travellers and the health of the UK economy will suffer. Find out more about the economic benefits of Heathrow.

It has been suggested that the environmental costs of Heathrow outweigh its economic benefits but if capacity at Heathrow continues to be constrained, foreign hubs such as Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris will grow instead. This will not provide any climate change benefits but would severely damage the UK’s global competitiveness and UK jobs.

The Department for Transport has published the results of its environmental assessment showing that those limits can be met.  It has also recently finished a public consultation on the future of Heathrow. To find out more about the environmental assessment and the consultation on Heathrow, please go to the DfT website. BAA has responded to the consultation explaining why growth at Heathrow is necessary. You can download our response 'Making the case for responsible growth' or find out more about why Heathrow needs to grow at www.futureheathrow.org.