Sir Richard Branson is demanding the Government “get on with it” and expand Heathrow airport through private-sector investment, claiming doing so would create the jobs and infrastructure to “pull a country out of recession”.
Branson, one of Britain’s most high-profile entrepreneurs who founded Virgin Atlantic in 1984, said he had backed the Coalition’s austerity strategy at its election in 2010, adding: “I was a general believer that we had to tighten our belts to keep our credit rating.” But he warned: “Now is the time to see more spending on big projects. It is money well spent and it creates jobs.
“We need a government that is brave enough to make a decision and get on with it. We should get at least two more runways built as fast as possible at Heathrow while thinking about other options to the west and east.”
The entrepreneur also said expansion should be built “by private enterprise”, saying: “It’s not even as if the Government would have to put its hand in its pocket. The difference it would make to GDP is enormous, and in itself could pull a country out of recession.
“To continue as we are is to stagnate. We still have the same number of runways as at the time of the Second World War. It holds back growth.”
The airline founder claimed that private-sector investment plans were being strangled by Heathrow’s overcrowded status.
“It’s up to the Government to make bold, tough decisions on things like new ways to connect us up to emerging markets like South America,” Branson said. “People like myself want to invest, create jobs and pull [the country] out of these difficult times. But Virgin Atlantic is completely incapable of [expanding to those markets] because there isn’t the runway capacity.”
The Government has delayed a decision on expanding Heathrow by launching the Davies Commission, where former Financial Services Authority boss Sir Howard Davies is examining options for expanding airport capacity in the south-east of England. But his final findings will not be published until summer 2015.
