Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the number of regional connections into Heathrow that will require (a) direct and (b) indirect funding contributions.

The Airports National Policy Statement sets out an expectation that Heathrow will work with airlines to deliver at least 14 domestic routes. The Government expects these new domestic routes from an expanded Heathrow to be commercially viable with incentives offered by the airport operator

The Aviation 2050 consultation is also seeking views on reserving slots for domestic connections, which would not require public funding. If commercial incentives and slot reservations do not deliver on our expectations, then the Government may consider imposing Public Service Obligations.

The Government expects that significant direct financial support for PSOs into Heathrow following expansion is unlikely to be required, due to the commercial incentives in place for airlines to run routes into the UK’s primary hub airport. If an application for a PSO did require Government or local authority subsidy, this would then be considered as part of our evaluation.