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| Version 7 | Version 8 |
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| Heathrow Airport runway decision delayed until summer | Heathrow Airport runway decision delayed until summer |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A decision on whether to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport has been delayed until at least next summer, the government has confirmed. | A decision on whether to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport has been delayed until at least next summer, the government has confirmed. |
| Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the government would "continue to work on all shortlisted locations". | Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the government would "continue to work on all shortlisted locations". |
| A decision had previously been expected by the end of this year. | A decision had previously been expected by the end of this year. |
| An independent report on airport expansion by Sir Howard Davies in July backed a plan to build a third runway at Heathrow. | An independent report on airport expansion by Sir Howard Davies in July backed a plan to build a third runway at Heathrow. |
| But he said that the new runway should come with severe restrictions to reduce the environmental and noise effects, and did not completely rule out a second runway at Gatwick. | But he said that the new runway should come with severe restrictions to reduce the environmental and noise effects, and did not completely rule out a second runway at Gatwick. |
| Airport expansion - what are the options? | Airport expansion - what are the options? |
| Building a third runway at Heathrow | Building a third runway at Heathrow |
| Extending an existing runway at Heathrow | Extending an existing runway at Heathrow |
| Second runway at Gatwick Airport | |
| Read live updates here | Read live updates here |
| Heathrow Airport: Why the renewed delay? | Heathrow Airport: Why the renewed delay? |
| The government's Heathrow problem | The government's Heathrow problem |
| The politics of Heathrow expansion | |
| Heathrow said it had "full confidence" that its plans could meet "tough environmental conditions" and would now "move into the delivery phase". | |
| However, this latest development means that expansion at Gatwick is still an option. | |
| Gatwick described the delay as a "defining moment" in the airport expansion debate. | |
| "We are glad that the government recognises that more work on environmental impact needs to be done," said its chief executive Stewart Wingate. | |
| "Air quality, for example, is a public health priority and obviously the legal safeguards around it cannot be wished away," he added. | |
| Heathrow Hub, the group behind the proposal for extending a runway at Heathrow said the delay "seemed sensible". | |
| Analysis: Richard Westcott, transport correspondent | |
| Plenty of business and union leaders will be frustrated at yet another delay to the airports' decision. | |
| But ministers say they need more time to study the impact any scheme would have on air quality and the people who live under the flight path. | |
| They give an example and it's linked to the VW emissions scandal. | |
| The government's vehicle testing experts are currently checking various cars to see just how polluting they are on the real road, compared to the lab. | |
| That work will be finished in the spring, and the government says it'll use the findings to get a more accurate idea of the impact any extra traffic going to a bigger airport would have on local people's health. | |
| Campaigners have told me they think the pollution problem is their best chance of stopping a bigger Heathrow in the courts. The government will want a watertight legal case before announcing its favourite. | |
| In the end though, it means we won't get a final decision until nearly four years after David Cameron set up the Airports Commission to resolve this problem once and for all. And that's assuming it doesn't get delayed again. | |
| "The case for aviation expansion is clear - but it's vitally important we get the decision right so that it will benefit generations to come," said Mr McLoughlin. | "The case for aviation expansion is clear - but it's vitally important we get the decision right so that it will benefit generations to come," said Mr McLoughlin. |
| "We will undertake more work on environmental impacts, including air quality, noise and carbon." | "We will undertake more work on environmental impacts, including air quality, noise and carbon." |
| London Mayor Boris Johnson, a vociferous opponent of a third runway, said the Heathrow campaign was now officially grounded. | |
| "The wheels are falling off the Heathrow fuselage and I think that, now the government has hit the pause button, they will begin to understand with ever greater clarity that, due to the environmental impacts, the legal obstacles and the cost to the public purse, this bird will never fly," he said. | |
| Conservative MP and London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith, who is also opposed to Heathrow expansion, said: "We can't afford more dithering over aviation capacity. | |
| "Gatwick stands ready to deliver it sooner, at a lower public expense and without the damaging impact of Heathrow expansion." | |
| But business groups reacted with dismay at the delay. | |
| "Business leaders will be tearing their hair out at the news that, yet again, a decision on expanding the UK's airport capacity has been delayed," said Simon Walker from the Institute of Directors. | "Business leaders will be tearing their hair out at the news that, yet again, a decision on expanding the UK's airport capacity has been delayed," said Simon Walker from the Institute of Directors. |
| "Of course this is difficult choice, which is the reason the government set up the Airports Commission to make a recommendation balancing economic needs, environmental concerns and the impact on local residents," he continued. | "Of course this is difficult choice, which is the reason the government set up the Airports Commission to make a recommendation balancing economic needs, environmental concerns and the impact on local residents," he continued. |
| "We have to ask now, what was the point of the Commission if the government still fails to act?" | "We have to ask now, what was the point of the Commission if the government still fails to act?" |
| Meanwhile the business lobby group, the CBI said the decision was "deeply disappointing". | Meanwhile the business lobby group, the CBI said the decision was "deeply disappointing". |