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‘Economic illiteracy’ claim as air decision delayed

A British Airways flight coming into land at Heathrow
A British Airways flight coming into land at Heathrow

The chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce has slammed a move to further delay a decision on critical UK airport capacity as “economic illiteracy”.

Liz Cameron called for an immediate rethink after Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said a decision on increasing airport capacity in the south-east of the UK would be delayed until October at the least.

A final decision on whether to expand provision at Gatwick or Heathrow had been expected imminently.

It has been a year since Sir Howard Davies presented his Airports Commission report which concluded a third runway should be added at Heathrow.

Ms Cameron is a strong advocate of connectivity and said further delays to a final decision would cause damage both north and south of the border.

The chief executives of both Heathrow and Gatwick travelled to Scotland ahead of Sir Howard’s report last year to lay out what benefit Scotland could expect from expansion of their respective transport hubs.

“This announcement of a further delay in making a decision on airport expansion in the UK could not have come at a worse moment,” Ms Cameron said.

“At a time when business is expecting our Government to show leadership and clear direction, it is economic illiteracy to create a further lengthy delay to one of Britain’s most important transport infrastructure priorities.

“Wherever airport expansion ultimately takes place, that decision should be made now.”

Ms Cameron said the dithering risked new investment.

The CBI said a failure to make a quick decision could cost the UK economy billions.

President Paul Drechsler said: “Our new analysis shows that our European rivals with spare capacity will be gaining at the UK’s expense, cashing in on their own thriving connectivity, if we fail to get on and build a new runway.

“By 2030, better capacity will see German trade with the BRIC economies alone grow by an additional £15 billion, and French trade grow by £7.5 billion – trade that could and should be coming here.”