Boris Johnson Warns Aberdeen Could Lose Flights To Heathrow
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson is warning business and political leaders that Aberdeen could lose all of its flights to Heathrow, if a third runway goes ahead.
Since 2012 the number of daily flights between Aberdeen and Heathrow has dropped by 38% from 13 flights a day to eight flights a day.
Just last month, Aberdeen saw the loss of three daily flights from Heathrow with the closure of Virgin Atlantic’s Little Red short haul service.
Today the Mayor wrote to key businesses to highlight the fact that the Airports Commission has forecast that an expanded Heathrow would accommodate even fewer domestic routes – reducing the number of British airports connected to a UK hub from seven to four.
Aviation routes are particularly important for the Granite City, as connections for the oil and gas industry.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “Having connections with the UK hub airport is hugely important for Aberdeen and the north-east of Scotland. Those connections allow businesses to trade and secure investment across the globe. But the truth is that Heathrow has been failing our regions for well over a quarter of a century and quite staggeringly Airports Commission's own analysis shows that the construction of a third runway only worsens the situation.
“That is not how you rebalance the economy and spread prosperity across the UK. The only long-term solution that would enable British businesses to compete on a level playing field with our European competitors is to build a four-runway hub airport, and the only logical location for that airport is to the east of London.”