The government should opt for three new runways at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted - a move that would secure 80,000 new jobs for London, the South East and the East of England, says the TUC.

This plan would guarantee that the UK remains at the heart of future air travel in Europe, the trade union body argues.

First priority

In its submission to the South East Regional Air Study, the TUC calls on the government to make its mind up over the future shape of aviation in the UK, and says that the first priority must be to build another runway at Heathrow.

The West London airport must remain the UK’s hub airport, says the TUC, as it suggests a slight alteration to the siting of the proposed third runway to preserve the historic centre of Harmondsworth.

The TUC believes new runways must be constructed at Gatwick and Stansted, but says that whilst new evidence concerning the merits of expansion in Sussex or Essex is still emerging, it won’t be necessary to decide which airport runway gets the go-ahead after Heathrow.

Doing nothing is too awful to contemplate

The TUC submission accepts that environmental and community organisations may be unhappy at the idea of the region gaining three new runways, but says that the costs of doing nothing, or not doing enough, are too awful to contemplate.

Unless the UK can expand its airport capacity, there is a danger, warns the TUC, that airports in Germany, France and the Netherlands will lure airlines away, with a devastating effect on UK jobs and the UK economy.

But simply building new runways will not be sufficient on its own, the UK will only remain at the forefront of aviation travel, if rail links to all airports in and around the capital are enhanced. The TUC also wants to see improvements made to many of the region’s other 14 airports, including Luton, London City, Southampton and Norwich.

Environmental view

The TUC also says that the environmental costs of building a new airport at Cliffe mean that the Kent option should be ruled out of the forthcoming White Paper.

The TUC submission addresses concerns about the environment, visualising aviation as part of an integrated transport network. It says that any increase in capacity at Heathrow must be within the current constraints on night flights. To ensure that greenhouse gas emissions targets are met, the TUC also proposes the introduction of a tradable emissions quota system across all industries.