Valerie raises Birmingham Airport

I raised the future of Birmingham Airport with the Secretary of State for Transport at Transport Questions on 30 June 2016. Birmingham Airport served a record 10.2 million passengers in 2015 and When the new Birmingham Interchange Station links the Airport to HS2, Birmingham Airport will become the most accessible in the UK. A second runway would be be extremely beneficial to the growth of the West Midlands, including Walsall.

Valerie Vaz MP: When he plans to make a decision on the construction of an additional runway in south-east England?

The Secretary of State for Transport (Patrick McLoughlin MP): I had hoped that we would be able to announce a decision on airport capacity this summer. Clearly, any announcement on airport capacity would have to be made when the House was in session. Being realistic, given recent events, I cannot now foresee that there will be an announcement until at least October. We aim to publish the further analysis on air quality soon. Separately, promoters have announced undertakings that would increase the compensation available for residents living near the airports and the connectivity between other UK airports. The Government are fully committed to delivering the important infrastructure projects that they have set out, including the delivery of runway capacity on the timetable set out by the Davies report.

As there was a delay in the publication of the report, I wanted to make the case again for Birmingham Airport.
Valerie Vaz MP:The Secretary of State will know that I am going to make the case for Birmingham airport. Is there still time, whenever the report comes out, for Birmingham airport to make the case for the 250,000 jobs that could flow from a second runway there?

Mr McLoughlin MP: Looking at the hon. Lady’s question, I did not realise that she was going to mention Birmingham, because her question specifically talks about south-east England. To the best of my knowledge, Birmingham has not moved since I knew it as a boy, 20 miles away from where I lived. Birmingham airport is a fantastic airport, which serves an important role as far as Birmingham and the midlands are concerned, and it has just had a runway extension.