Second runway is 'Pie in the sky'

Written by Lorely Burt Member of Parliament for Solihull and published in Solihull Times, 12th October on Tue 18th Oct 2005

Birmingham Airport will be publishing it's latest Master Plan in the next few weeks, so I went to see MD Richard Heard to find out what was in store, particularly with regard to the second runway.

The impression I gained is that this runway will be in the plan it may not actually be built for a long time. In our post 911 and oil at $60 a barrel world who knows when and if we will generate the demand for the second runway? The government said in the White Paper it would be 2016, BIA thinks it will be closer to 2020 but I think it could well not be until 2030. And by 2030 who knows what government policies, or indeed what sort of government we will have?

Coming back to today, what BIA do want is to extend the existing runway east towards the motorway so that they can enable existing aircraft to go further. (They need more fuel on board which would need a longer runway to take off). This would enable them to compete with Manchester and Heathrow. It was in their previous master plan and has been incorporated into Solihull's Urban Development Plan.

The runway extension would involve diverting the A45 slightly and putting it under a tunnel for a distance. However the main cost of extending the runway will be in the modifications to the A45, and since this has to be found from private money that won't be happening tomorrow, either.

What is clear is there should be no need for a second runway for a long time. If BIA extends the existing runway, builds a third passenger terminal and increases the run off points to enable smaller aircraft to get off the runway faster, that should accommodate any increase in demand for flights for the foreseeable future.

However, there are two further issues, and they are of huge importance to us all. Firstly, traffic. Only 15% of passengers currently use public transport to get to the airport. How will the existing traffic infrastructure cope? It's a big subject and I'll write separately about this next time.

Secondly, what are the wider issues of air travel for our planet? Aviation is the fastest growing source of carbon emissions, and will eventually cancel out all the good work other industries are doing to reduce carbon emissions.

I would hope aviation will be included in the proposed carbon emissions exchange scheme alongside other industries. This would force aircraft manufacturers to find new ways to reduce the pollution caused. Hopefully this will enable our children and our children's children to enjoy air travel too.