Airports Commission publishes discussion paper on demand forecasts

1st February, 2013

Following the publication earlier this week of updated passenger demand and CO2 forecasts, the Airports Commission has published its first ‘discussion paper‘, inviting comment on the forecasts and on what their role should be in considerations of airport capacity issues. It has also published guidance on submitting evidence and proposals to the Commission.

AEF will be engaging with the Commission in coming months, and will make a full response to the forecasting paper. Our view is that the Government forecasts, while not infallible, provide an important counterweight to necessarily self-interested airport master plans and industry projections.  While we consider that airports policy should be determined with reference to environmental limits and community needs for good working and living environments as well as to consumer demand, we consider that the recent forecasts – which are now lower even than those published in August 2011 –  lend weight to the case against new runways.