Treasury doubts over second Stansted runway

The UK’s Treasury has reportedly cast “serious doubts” over a second runway at Stansted airport, saying that there is the potential for serious delay unless it is “cross-subsidised” by users of London’s two other main hubs, Heathrow and Gatwick. According to The Independent, papers released under the Freedom of Information Act say that if the new runway is self-financing, which is reportedly the Government’s preferred option, some passenger charges may have to be increased by a factor of five – to £16 per flight. This could cause a high degree of “revenue risk”, The Independent reports, because no-frills carriers such as Ryanair and EasyJet would be loathe to pay such inflated prices. BAA, the owner of the airport, would find it difficult to enforce, the documents reportedly add. One section of the document reportedly reads: “There is collective agreement between DfT, HMT and CAA that we cannot state categorically that a new runway at Stansted is not financeable on a stand-alone basis but due to the higher degree of revenue risk, BAA could choose to delay the development to allow the financing situation to improve.” Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd