South East set for airport expansion

The South East could see the construction of two more runways, following the government's review of its progress on the Air Transport White Paper, published in 2003.

BAA welcomed the proposal and announced that it would submit a planning application for the first runway, in Stansted, in the summer of 2007.

The progress review also called for the expansion of Heathrow as soon as possible, although it would depend on a new mechanism, the 'emissions cost assessment', that would help inform decisions on increases in aviation activity.