SUTTON HARBOUR HOLDINGS PLC RESPONSE TO HEATHROW STATEMENT

Jason Schofield, chief executive of Sutton Harbour Holdings plc, which owns the leasehold of the former Plymouth airport site, said:

“This is the latest salvo in the ongoing debate about airport capacity in the South East and it suits Heathrow to promise the earth given that a crunch decision on a third runway is just months away. Plymouth’s demise was not about lack of capacity into the South East, it was about chronic lack of demand. No airline operator was able to run a sustainable operation out of Plymouth in the last 15 years, even when there was a connection to Heathrow, and the airport has so many constraints that the prospect of it ever reopening is fanciful. Heathrow’s promise of a route development fund is predicated on a third runway being built, which is at least a decade away even if it is chosen as the preferred option. Heathrow should be supporting our existing regional airports like Exeter, Newquay and Bristol rather than undermine them and give false hope by suggesting it can resurrect a lost cause.” Go back to previous page