THE British International Freight Association (BIFA) has welcomed the ruling by the High Court in London against campaigners challenging the legality of the UK government's decision to allow a third runway at Heathrow Airport BIFA's director general, Robert Keen, hoped that the ruling would help bring the debate on Heathrow expansion closer to an end
THE British International Freight Association (BIFA) has welcomed the ruling by the High Court in London against campaigners challenging the legality of the UK government's decision to allow a third runway at Heathrow Airport BIFA's director general, Robert Keen, hoped that the ruling would help bring the debate on Heathrow expansion closer to an end.
However, he added that, 'whilst some have said that the ruling is another important step towards bringing fifty years of indecision and delay on expanding Heathrow to a welcome close, the likelihood of further legal challenges to an extra runway emerging still leaves me with a certain sense of foreboding whether the spades will ever hit the ground.
'Any further legal challenges need to be handled robustly and need to be accompanied by an expedited planning procedure, which has been mentioned previously, with no reopening of high level arguments.'
For several years, the trade association that represents UK freight forwarding and logistics businesses has welcomed plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, and criticised the years of argument and delay.
Mr Keen concludes: 'It would be nice to think that the ruling is a further nail in the coffin of procrastination over the expansion of UK aviation capacity. If that is the case, it is long overdue good news for our 1,500 member companies who have been dismayed over the ongoing delay on such a huge issue.'
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