Heathrow Airport has promised to
reduce night flights and curb both noise and pollution if it is allowed
to build a new, third runway.
The pledge comes ahead of a government decision expected this summer on whether to expand Heathrow or Gatwick.
Last year, the Davies Commission recommended expanding Heathrow, but with strict environmental restrictions.
But, Gatwick Airport is still fighting, saying it remained the "only expansion plan that could deliver for the UK".
Heathrow
said it will allow a longer quiet period overnight, with flights not
allowed to land between 11pm and 5:30am, from their current 11.30pm
finish and 4.30am start.
John Holland-Kaye, chief executive at
Heathrow Airport Holdings, said they would bring in the new times in six
and half years time if they were granted the right to expand.
The
offer differs from the recommendations made by Sir Howard Davies'
inquiry, which wanted a ban on night flights between 11.30pm and 6.00am.
The airport is promising to meet his calls for limits to overall noise and guarantees that local pollution would not get worse.
Heathrow
supported the introduction of an independent noise authority and
pledged not to add new capacity unless the airport complied with EU air
quality limits.
No guarantee
John
Stewart, chair of the anti-noise group HACAN ClearSkies, accepted
Heathrow was offering a concession on night flights but said it was
disappointing it would not be extended to 6.00am.
He also questioned whether Heathrow was in a position to reduce air pollution.
"The
bigger problem with air pollution is most of it comes from traffic and
it's out of Heathrow's control to deal with air pollution from traffic.
They can't really guarantee that air pollution levels can be brought
down to EU legal limits," he added.
'Cleaner, quieter'
Mr
Holland-Kaye said the airport was going beyond the recommendations of
the Davies Commission and he was confident they could create a "cleaner,
quieter Heathrow delivering more for the UK economy and that clears the
way for the prime minister to make the right choice to expand Heathrow
and deliver a stronger economy".
He said more investment in
public transport and the use of electric and hybrid cars in the future
would limit the impact from traffic pollution.
Mr Holland-Kaye
blamed diesel vehicles for air pollution and said he was writing to the
new London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, to request that he extended the ultra-low
emission zone to the M25.
Mr Khan's manifesto stated that he would oppose a third runway at Heathrow and he favoured Gatwick as the more viable option.
The
airport has pledged to create an ultra-low emissions zone for airport
vehicles by 2025 and develop an emissions charging scheme for all
vehicles accessing the airport.
But Mary Creagh, chair of the
Commons Environmental Audit Committee, said Heathrow had to go "much
further, much faster" in tackling air pollution.
"Promises on
future rail links and air pollution charges are seven to 10 years away.
People living near the airport need action on air quality much sooner
and one quick win would be slashing fares on the Heathrow Express to
encourage more people to use it."
Gatwick's bid
Stewart Wingate,
chief executive of Gatwick Airport, described Wednesday's announcement
by Heathrow's owners as a "desperate last throw from a project that has
repeatedly failed".
He said Heathrow Airport's air quality plans
failed "the most basic credibility test" and they could not promise
traffic would not increase with a third runway.
"An expanded
Heathrow will newly impact hundreds of thousands of people currently not
affected by aircraft noise - an expanded Gatwick would impact less than
3% of this number," he added.
The Commons' Transport Select
Committee published a report last week which urged ministers to set out a
clear timetable for airport expansion.
Heathrow's plans:
The plan involves building a new 3,500m runway about two miles north of the two runways Heathrow already has at an estimated cost of £18.6bn.
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