To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent research her Department has commissioned on the economic consequences of building new (a) airports and (b) runways. (181621)

The economic appraisal of options for additional UK airport capacity, including both a new airport and new runways at existing airports, supporting the 2003 ‘Future of Air Transport’ White Paper was reported in ‘Passenger Forecasts—Additional Analysis’. This is available at:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/about/strategy/whitepapers/air/docs/passengerforecastsadditional5673

Updated economic appraisal of options supported in the White Paper was reported in ‘UK Air Passenger Demand and CO₂ Forecasts’. This is available at:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/aviation/environmentalissues/ukairdemandandco2forecasts/

The Department for Transport also jointly commissioned the 2006 Oxford Economic Forecasting report ‘The Economic Contribution of the Aviation Industry in the UK’, available at:

http://www.oef.com/Free/pdfs/Aviation2006Final.pdf