Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that connectivity between Northern Ireland and London is improved as a result of the planned expansion of Heathrow Airport.

There were around 20,400 flights between Northern Ireland and London in 2015, of which around 6,300 flights were between Belfast and Heathrow.

Expansion at Heathrow will benefit the whole of the UK and will give even more areas access to London and to important international markets by 2030.

Government expects Heathrow to protect and strengthen existing domestic services, including to Belfast City Airport, and to develop new connections, for example, to Belfast International Airport.

Overall, Heathrow expects to add six more domestic routes by 2030, bringing the total to 14 routes.