The Supreme Court has today accepted an appeal by Heathrow Airport against a February 2020 decision to ban the development of a third runway on environmental grounds.
The decision to develop a third runway at Heathrow, driven by the airport being effectively full and a lack of capacity elsewhere in the south east of the UK, dates back to 2015.
In that year, the Airports Commission under Howard Davies recommended the option of an additional runway at the airport ahead of other options to increase airport capacity in the region.
The UK’s then secretary of state for transport Patrick McLoughlin accepted the case for airport expansion and announced in October 2016 that the North West Runway (NWR) scheme was the preferred scheme.
At around the same time, the UK government signed and ratified the Paris Agreement which sets out various targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, and the reduction of temperature increases resulting from global warming.
On 26 June 2018, the new transport secretary Chris Grayling designated the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) – the framework which governs the construction of a third runway at Heathrow Airport – as national policy.
Objectors to the third runway, including Friends of the Earth and Plan B Earth, then challenged the lawfulness of the designation. A Court of Appeal ruling in February this year found that the secretary of state had acted unlawfully in failing to take the Paris Agreement into account when designating the ANPS.
The Supreme Court has today ruled unanimously that this ruling was wrong and has now allowed Heathrow Airport’s challenge, meaning development can proceed.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “This is the right result for the country, which will allow Global Britain to become a reality. Only by expanding the UK’s hub airport can we connect all of Britain to all of the growing markets of the world, helping to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in every nation and region of our country. Demand for aviation will recover from Covid, and the additional capacity at an expanded Heathrow will allow Britain as a sovereign nation to compete for trade and win against our rivals in France and Germany.
“Heathrow has already committed to net zero and this ruling recognises the robust planning process that will require us to prove expansion is compliant with the UK’s climate change obligations, including the Paris Climate Agreement, before construction can begin. The government has made decarbonising aviation a central part of its green growth agenda, through wider use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel as well as new technology.
“As passenger numbers recover, our immediate focus will be to continue to ensure their safety and to maintain our service levels while we consult with investors, government, airline customers and regulators on our next steps.”