Air Transport

The review offers no environmental or operational cases for a third runway or mixed-mode operations at Heathrow, apart from stating that an early assessment suggests the noise contour limit could be met as noisier aircraft are retired. Mixed-mode operation would also require ending some existing practices, including the Cranford Agreement, which protects residents east of the northern runway.

A full public consultation on the future development of Heathrow is planned for 2007, once environmental assessments are complete. Should the environmental conditions attached to a new runway at Heathrow not be met, the review says the option of a wide-spaced runway after 2019 at London Gatwick should be kept open.

The effect of future airport expansion on aviation's climate impact will be underpinned by a specially developed "environmental cost assessment" tool before any decision on major increases in aviation capacity is made. The government is expected to consult on the development of this assessment in the first half of 2007.

A consistent supporter of aviation's inclusion in a multilateral EU emissions trading scheme, the UK government says it has not discounted other charging mechanisms. "We recognise that other economic instruments also have a part to play," says the review.