In response to House of Commons’ Transport Committee’s report on its inquiry into the Government’s draft Airports National Policy Statement, Keith Prince AM, Chairman of the London Assembly Transport Committee, said:

“This report echoes what the London Assembly said in a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport in April last year. The transport infrastructure must come before the airport expansion - and there would need to be significant capacity upgrades on routes to an expanded airport.  It’s not just more passengers that will need travel to and from Heathrow; it’s also an increased quantity of freight.

It would be helpful if the Government could give us a clearer steer on what the plans are for improving surface access to Heathrow Airport and a commitment that the additional transport schemes will go ahead.

How much these surface access improvements are going to cost and who is going to pay for them needs to be set in stone before Parliament makes its final decision on the expansion of Heathrow.”