The boss of low-cost airline Ryanair has called for the introduction of new runways at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted “as fast as possible”, after dismissing the Mayor of London’s proposals for a hub airport in the Thames Estuary as “insane”.
Speaking to the Commons Transport Select Committee, chief executive Michael O’Leary argued that instead of forging ahead with Boris Johnson’s “stupid” and “hare-brained” idea, extra runways should be built at London’s three main existing airports.
The so-called “Boris Island” scheme has also failed to get the seal of approval from MPs. Of 93 MPs surveyed, just 46 per cent supported expansion at Heathrow, while only 16 per cent backed the estuary plan.
O’Leary made his case by putting a question mark over the amount of time it would take to build any new airport on a green field site, while arguing that excess capacity for London would help to increase competition between airlines.
He argued that this model had already been demonstrated by the fact that Liverpool John Lennon Airport is already vying for competition with Manchester Airport.
“Trying to come up with a new Greenfield runway, regardless of where you’re going to develop it, which has no infrastructure, no motorway or rail infrastructure would probably take the whole of the rest of my lifetime before it sees the sight of day,” O’Leary said.
“What you don’t want to do is have one more runway,” he added.
O’Leary argued that Stansted’s sale next year would provide the perfect opportunity to have three competing airports, all of which will be campaigning for new runways.
“The government should support that and promote three additional runways,” he added.
O’Leary argued that if it weren’t for uncompetitive market conditions caused by Air Passenger Duty (APD) and airport charges, Ryanair would have grown by 20 million more passengers per year in the UK.
He went on to say that airport operator BAA (now known as Heathrow) had constrained UK aviation so it could continue “overcharging airlines and passengers”.
