Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 5 July 2018, Official Report, column 473, what steps he plans to take to ensure that it will not be possible to change those slots to long-haul destinations.

Maintaining and enhancing domestic connectivity should be one of the key benefits of any expansion at Heathrow. It will ensure new connections, increased frequency and greater competition for domestic routes, so that the whole of the UK benefits from the Government’s decision to support a third runway at Heathrow.

The Government has set a clear expectation that about 15 per cent of slots made available through expansion at Heathrow Airport will be used for domestic flights, and it has identified the tools to make this happen. As part of this, it expects around 100 additional flights per week between Scotland and Heathrow once new capacity is delivered.

If new capacity coupled with the commercial incentives offered by Heathrow does not meet these expectations, then the Government will ring-fence slots at appropriate times of day and provide financial support through exemption from Air Passenger Duty. All of these measures can be delivered through the use of Public Service Obligations.

The Government will put in place Public Service Obligations on an airport-to-airport basis. This new approach is consistent with existing EU regulations, and, for the first time, it will allow the Government to provide protection for flights that are specifically to Heathrow. In addition, the Government will consider the introduction of unfunded Public Service Obligations to Heathrow Airport. This would provide a safeguard for domestic connections, but without direct cost to the taxpayer.

The Government’s approach to domestic connectivity will be set out in a Green Paper on the Aviation Strategy, to be published towards the end of this year.