14 November 2012 Last updated at 19:02 ET
A lack of capacity at Heathrow is costing the UK economy £14bn a year in lost trade, according to a report published by the airport.
That figure could rise to £26bn a year by 2030, the report said.
Heathrow bosses are keen to see a third runway built at the west London airport, but the government has ruled it out for the time being.
The government has asked a commission headed by Sir Howard Davies to advise on future UK airport capacity needs.
The Davies Commission is expected to present an interim report to the government by the end of 2013, with a full report due in the summer of 2015 – after the next general election.
‘Lay doubts to rest’
Heathrow’s report, “One hub or none”, was prepared for the airport by consultants Frontier Economics. It was commissioned to inform Heathrow’s response to the Davies Commission but is not its formal submission.
I’ve just looked back through my notes from the start of the year.
“Dead and buried” was the phrase a senior person at the DfT used to describe to me a third runway at Heathrow. Just a few months after that Justine Greening, the Transport Secretary at the time, effectively told me that she was against the idea.
What a difference a few months and some expensive lobbying makes. Justine Greening has been unceremoniously shunted out of the way and the idea is now firmly back on the table. It’s also backed by some big hitters across the business world, unions, aviation bosses and many politicians.
But don’t let that fool you into thinking the diggers will move in any time soon, if ever.
First, there’s the rabid opposition it would face from the likes of London Mayor Boris Johnson, the Lib Dems and the hundreds of thousands of Londoners who’d be affected by the noise.
Second, Sir Howard Davies might not actually recommend it when he reports back in 2015, and even if he does, the next government will have to back it. If it clears all those hurdles, Heathrow’s owners then say it will take at least eight years to get planning permission and finally build the thing.
On Tuesday, London Mayor Boris Johnson met Sir Howard, stating his opposition to a third runway at Heathrow, and putting forward the case for a Thames estuary airport.
The all-party 2M Group, which represents more than 20 councils close to Heathrow, has said it will tell the Davies Commission that loosening restrictions on Heathrow’s existing runways would destroy the quality of life for people living near the flight path.
Heathrow chief executive Colin Matthews said: “If anyone was still in doubt about the importance of aviation to the UK economy, today’s report should lay those doubts to rest.”
The report said that the choice for the UK was not between two hubs or one, but one hub or none.
It said only one airport could operate as a hub in the UK and said the government could either do nothing and “let the UK fall behind competitors”, add additional capacity at Heathrow or close Heathrow and replace it with a new larger hub airport.
A Department for Transport spokeswoman said that the UK was one of the best connected countries in the world, and maintaining its airport network was vital to the economy.
“The strength with which the different options for achieving this are put forward shows precisely why we were right to set up a proper independent review with the timescale to consider fully what is in the country’s interest,” she said.
A report by the Policy Exchange think tank last month supported replacing Heathrow’s existing runways with four new ones immediately to the west of the current site as the best option for increasing airport capacity in the UK.
It also advocated much tighter restrictions on operating hours, permitted aircraft type and the steepness of take-off and descent, in order to reduce noise pollution over London from current levels.
Other options include building a second runway at Gatwick or Stansted, expanding Luton, or replacing Heathrow with an airport in the Thames Estuary, as favoured by Mr Johnson.
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