Third runway at Heathrow Airport would drive growth, Healey says
Source: BBC ·
It comes after the prime minister refused to say whether he backed expansion.
From the source
British Airways planes lined up at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport Chancellor John Healey has said building a third runway at Heathrow Airport has "always been a case for growth" after Prime Minister Andy Burnham refused to say if he backed the expansion. Healey said airport expansion, including at Heathrow, had been "a big part of jobs and growth" in recent decades, speaking at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Bangkok. His comments came after Prime Minister Andy Burnham was more sceptical, telling the BBC last month it was "a matter for London and Londoners". Healey's predecessor Rachel Reeves had put the airport's expansion at the centrepiece of an argument that Britain was open for business. Earlier this week Heathrow's chief executive Thomas Woldbye warned that not building a third runway at the UK's busiest airport would be a "huge missed opportunity". Healey told reporters: "The case for a third runway at Heathrow has always been a case for growth." He added: "The formal…