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Heathrow hits growth of Robin Hood airport
THE growth of South Yorkshire's Robin Hood Airport will be restricted because of plans to build a third runway at Heathrow, it has been claimed.
Passengers are also likely to face paying higher taxes in a bid to curb carbon emissions created by air travel.
The claims come as low-cost airline easyJet announced it will run 21 flights a week from Robin Hood Airport.
The airline expects to carry 300,000 passengers in its first year of operation from Finningley and will start flights from April 19 next year. It could mean passenger numbers from the airport increase by around a third.
It will operate services to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Faro, Palma and Prague, and the airline is also aiming to use the routes to bring in tourists into South Yorkshire.
But a landmark report by the Committee for Climate Change – set up to independently advise the Government on how to meet its legally binding targets – raises questions about the future expansion of the airport near Doncaster.
The report states it will be possible to build a third runway at Heathrow, add second runways at Stansted and Edinburgh, and permit an extra 140 million journeys a year by 2050 without breaking the UK's commitment to cutting carbon dioxide emissions.
But the 60 per cent increase in air travel over the next four decades will come at a cost of choking off expansion at regional airports, such as Robin Hood.
Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers said: "Labour's approach could see regions yet again lose out as regional airports are left to wither on the vine to give headroom for the massive carbon footprint caused by Heathrow expansion."
The Government planned for 1.569 million more aircraft movements at airports other than Heathrow by 2050.
However, the new cap recommended by the climate change committee combined with the impact of a third runway at Heathrow means airports other than Heathrow would be constrained to one million more flights between 2005 and 2050.
The Tories claim "because of the third runway at Heathrow, other airports no longer have the same scope for expansion they otherwise would have".
Committee for Climate Change chief executive David Kennedy said: "Demand can increase, but only in a limited way.
"Don't be deceived by the fact demand can grow. It will have to grow by much less than if we didn't care about carbon dioxide."
The report says ministers must consider measures including a carbon tax on passengers, limits on runway expansion, and restrictions on flights at existing airports.
The suggested limit of 60 per cent passenger growth over the next four decades is compared with an increase of 130 per cent since 1990.
Last year, Robin Hood Airport unveiled plans for a massive expansion, which would see more than 14,000 people working at its site in Finningley.
But before yesterday's announcement of new flights, passenger numbers at the airport were falling.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
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