TRANSPORT Secretary Ruth Kelly says that Heathrow Airport needs a third runway to increase its capacity because it is “bursting at the seams” and nearly always 99% full.

She has been backed by British Airports Authority chief executive Colin Matthews, who said that if Heathrow did not get a third runway it risked being reduced to a “regional airport on the margins of Europe”.
He says that Heathrow needs direct and regular connections to cities such as Bangalore and Chennai (formerly Madras) because these are now the important global IT centres.

The British National Party says that Heathrow doesn’t need a third runway. One third of Heathrow’s traffic, which makes the airport so busy, is transfer passengers who contribute nothing, either to Heathrow, or to London, or to the UK economy.

Under a BNP Government there would be no need for direct flights to Bangalore and Chennai, because the IT centre that were vital to Britain would be based in Britain.

For environmental and security reasons we need to dramatically cut the number of flights in and out of Britain that do not directly benefit Britain and the British people. Much of the air traffic between Britain and the Indian sub-continent is generated by immigrants returning home for holidays and to visit families. Such a large scale exodus and influx, two or three times a year for each family, leaves a huge carbon footprint, facilitates illegal immigration and encourages a dual citizenship mentality which is not beneficial to community cohesion.

The BNP would also bring the BAA, which is currently owned by the Spanish Ferrovial Group, back under State control to ensure that our airports are serving the best interests of the British people and not being used to make a profit for a foreign company.