Airports commission launches new review on runway expansion

Sir Howard Davies has decided at the eleventh hour to launch a new public consultation on the question of airport expansion, stoking fears of further delays to a politically sensitive decision.

In a bid to avert a potential legal challenge to the three-year review, the airports commission chaired by Sir Howard will tell Heathrow and Gatwick on Friday that it is seeking public comment on the impact of expansion on air quality.

The move comes after the Supreme Court ruled last month that Britain must speed up its efforts to tackle air pollution, having breached EU limits.

The news will raise concerns that the commission's recommendation on where to build a new runway - which was to have been ready for the new transport minister - could be delayed.

This would dismay business leaders and the airline industry who have repeatedly warned against further delays to a decision postponed several times by successive governments. With Heathrow already running at full capacity, a new runway is seen as vital to UK growth and trade.

Sir Howard will be under pressure to ensure the process does not drag on because he is due to start a new job as chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland in September. The commission is still hoping to deliver a report by the end of June, although people close to the process suggested this could be difficult.

The consultation is expected to finish by the end of the month and will be technically focused. It is not likely to require a series of meetings with the general public.

The commission came under fire from environmental groups after its interim report in November failed to draw specific conclusions on air quality. It promised to offer more detailed information about pollution at a later date, though it expressed confidence in the submissions made by the shortlisted bidders - two for expansion at Heathrow airport and one for Gatwick. However, its analysis has delivered unexpected conclusions and it will have to be submitted for further comment.

Heathrow's bid for expansion has been criticised given that the roads surrounding the UK's largest airport already breach EU air pollution limits. A previous government decision to allow a third runway at Heathrow was overturned by the courts in 2010 on environmental grounds. Gatwick has always claimed that expansion at Heathrow could again be challenged legally.

The commission's decision to seek further public comment will be an extra safeguard against any judicial review. "It could be vulnerable unless they do something," said one person close to the bidders.

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