A bigger Heathrow

Sir, The Government has stated clearly that expansion at Heathrow will only go ahead if strict local conditions on noise and pollution can be met, therefore communities will not be left “defenceless”, as Camilla Cavendish claims (Comment, Jan 31 ).

She also says that it would be “impossible for Whitehall to meet its climate change commitments”. This is untrue. We are committed to a sustainable aviation strategy which meets the challenges of climate change. We have also worked closely with Defra to ensure that aviation is included in the EU emissions trading scheme from 2012. That would mean that aviation CO2 emissions are effectively capped at the average of 2004-06 levels.

Adding capacity at Heathrow is of key importance to the UK’s economy and the consultation document shows that expansion at Heathrow would bring net economic benefits of £5 billion. It is Heathrow’s runways that are at capacity. Yes, using larger planes and filling more seats would enable more passengers to be carried with the same number of flights. But only a third runway, or making better use of the existing runways, will allow for new routes and destinations to be served.