Ryanair, the UK’s only ultra low cost carrier (ULCC) on July 18 made a submission to the UK Government’s Airports Commission, calling on Sir Howard Davies and his team to resolve the 30 year old runway shortage in the South East of England by recommending that each of the three main London airports, Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted, be allowed to develop, at the earliest possible date, one new additional runway each, which will result in three new runways serving London, which will finally address runway capacity in the South East for the next 50 years, thereby allowing competition between the three airports, to ensure that these new runways are delivered in a timely, efficient and cost competitive manner which will maximize the gains for UK consumers and visitors.

Ryanair in its submission has rubbished any new Greenfield airport plan such as ‘Boris Island’, which it criticized as being more of the failed political interference that has bedevilled UK infrastructure projects over the past 30 years. Ryanair believes that any new greenfield airport will take many decades to deliver, and will result in vast overspending and inefficiency due to the absence of any existing airport or ground transport infrastructure at any such greenfield site.

The approval of three new London runways will prevent the kind of regulatory gaming which has bedevilled London runway capacity under the failed BAA airport monopoly, and the “inadequate” CAA regulatory regime over the past 30 years. This failed airport regulatory model allowed the BAA monopoly to constrain capacity delivery, in order to charge monopoly prices to airlines and consumers, which has done such damage to UK aviation and tourism since the BAA airport monopoly was first privatised in the 1980’s. Ryanair has called on the Airports Commission to adopt its 3 new London runway proposal, which is the timeliest, most efficient long-term solution to the chronic runway shortages currently suffered by all airlines and passengers at the 3 main London airports. This new 3 runway strategy will restore London’s leadership of European aviation – without any political funding – and enable the South East to respond competitively to the new runway developments which have recently been completed in Madrid, Paris and Frankfurt.