Session is about to expire
Your session will timeout due to inactivity, please choose to continue your session if you’d would like to continue.
In December 2020, the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Court of Appeal in February 2020, reinstating the Airport National Policy Statement (ANPS). The judgment confirms that Government policy in the ANPS is lawful and that the Government properly considered the Paris Climate Change Agreement as part of the policy. It also makes clear that up-to-date climate obligations will be considered as part of the robust planning process that would apply to any proposals for Heathrow expansion.
Following the Supreme Court's unanimous decision to legally re-instate the Airport National Policy Statement as Government policy, Heathrow is now reflecting on the judgment to work out our next steps, ensuring that our recovery from COVID-19 is prioritised.
Our priority remains focusing on securing a recovery for the airport from COVID-19. As such we are reflecting on the judgment and considering next steps whilst engaging with a variety of stakeholders.
Demand of aviation will recover from COVID-19, and the additional capacity at an expanded Heathrow will allow Britain as a sovereign nation to compete more effectively. Expansion would help the Government's ambitions for Global Britain to become a reality. By expanding Heathrow, the UK's only hub airport, we would be able to connect all of Britain to the growing markets of the world, levelling up all of the UK by helping to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in every nation and region of the country.
We remain committed to developing Heathrow responsibly and sustainably, with a focus on the wellbeing of our communities and the environment.
Heathrow has already committed to being carbon net zero by 2050. The Government has also made decarbonising aviation a central part of its green growth agenda, through wider use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel as well as new technology.
Our commitment to meeting air quality targets also means that additional capacity would only be released when it is clear that the airport's direct contribution would not materially delay compliance with the UK's legal air quality obligations.
If you would like more information on our expansion plans, please visit out Expansion Document Hub.