Warning over future of air industry

The aviation industry will become the "next Railtrack" unless the Government learns from its mismanagement of the railways, an influential coalition of business leaders will warn today.

Transport Secretary Stephen Byers will come under pressure to approve a major expansion of airport capacity in the long-awaited White Paper on aviation later this year.

The CBI, British Tourist Authority, unions and airlines say it is essential to the national economy that the Government avoids the mistakes of the rail system and commits itself to an effective longterm plan.

With air passenger numbers expected to double by 2015 to 330million, the Freedom to Fly campaign launched today will warn that the lack of growth at Heathrow and Gatwick, in particular, is jeopardising London's status as a leading financial and tourism centre.

A Freedom to Fly spokesman said today: "The problems we are seeing on the railways are the result of decisions made 20 or 30 years ago. With aviation, this is a once-inalifetime chance to get it right. If we don't, the disruption we see on the railways will be seen in our airports in 20 years."

The campaign will be interpreted as putting more pressure on the Government to approve new runways, particularly in the South-East, which three-quarters of travellers fly through. By 2010, Heathrow will trail six other European airports for hourly runway movements, and big business has thrown its weight behind a third runway for Heathrow.

Digby Jones, director general of the CBI, said: "In this country, we have built one new runway since the last world war while in Paris they have built two since the last World Cup."

The Freedom to Fly coalition fears that flying will return to being a "preserve of the elite" unless the capacity crisis is addressed. It says that more passengers than seats will result in a rise in fares.

A survey by MORI commissioned by the campaign showed that 76 per cent of travellers think airports should be able to grow with "regard to the environment".

Friends of the Earth's aviation campaigner, Paul de Zylva, today warned the demands would result in "a rash of new airports and a massive increase in the pollution that is causing climate change".

A new runway at Heathrow is viewed as a bigger threat to air quality and quality of life than the recently-approved fifth terminal.

However, British Airways chief executive Rod Eddington said: "Too many times in the past, Government has dodged crucial decisions on aviation. Now the Government has to make decisions to avoid a capacity crisis."

The British Tourist Authority warns that the multi-billion pound tourism trade depends on Heathrow remaining Europe's number one "gateway" airport.