If we are not going to have the third runway at Heathrow or Boris Island, then the expansion of regional airports makes a lot of sense. So in answer to Matthew Sinclair, it all seems clear to me and Theresa Villiers and the Conservative Transport team have basically got it right.
R3 has understandably caused much of London and areas West serious horror at yet more aircraft. This is despite the best efforts of BAA and airlines like BA. And despite the best efforts of the Airport Operators Association (AOA) who have lots of regional members yet only seem interested in even more Heathrow - regional airports take note! So despite all this, people are not buying it. They have had enough and clearly don't want the third runway.
Meanwhile, Boris Island is now said to be costing £40Bn. So the costs of that scheme seem to be climbing even faster than the Olympics and knock the costs of the Dome into a cocked hat. Boris Island has another key difficulty. People may not favour more Heathrow, but many don't want to see it closed either as many businesses and jobs located near to Heathrow would suffer. So inertia is likely to favour keeping Heathrow as it is.
In the light of all this, what the Conservatives are proposing makes a lot of sense as a thoughtful way forward. High Speed Rail linking major cities and regional airports being allowed to expand. In this way it is possible to have more flights without encouraging even more hubbing which may be good for big airlines and BAA but has little overall benefit when the environmental downside is taken into account. Moreover, regional airports are associated with regional economic expansion. So there are wider potential economic benefits of stronger regional economies. It would not be economically healthy for the World to begin and end with London. The rest of Britain matters too!
So full credit to the Conservative Transport team. Agree with them or not, the policies are well developed and thought through. They will be kinder to the environment than those of the current Government. They will allow for more regional economic growth. And they have the strength and resilience to stand up to big money interests and not be bullied or bought off. The last I like a lot - for public life is at its greatest when it's about what is best for people about the country as a whole, not about overmighty subjects be they unions or fat monied interests. And full credit to Villiers for standing up to those privileged interests, facing down a lot of distasteful ad hominem attacks in the process.
A key next step for many will be to work towards making the planes themselves less polluting - by international agreement or by forms of flight taxation. No doubt, they have already been thinking through those options.
