Lord Empey has visited the European Parliament to raise awareness of the aims of his Private Members Bill that if successful will protect landing slots at Heathrow for the UK regions. Currently the slots are allocated under EU law.
Lord Empey said:
“I have a Private Members Bill, the Airports (amendment) Bill 2015 in Parliament at present. It seeks to give the Westminster Government power to protect landing slots at Heathrow Airport to ensure access to the national hub airport from regional airports. I am expecting to hold the Committee Stage of my Bill next month.
“Currently it is left to the airlines and a 'slot coordinator' to determine slot allocations at Heathrow, but they operate under EU not UK law. London has no power to intervene to help a region get access to Heathrow (as the national hub airport) if the airlines re-use their slots for, say, long haul flights to China or the Far East.
“While regions on the mainland have alternative access to some extent with rail and road, in practice Northern Ireland is very vulnerable to a reduction or withdrawal of flights from Belfast to Heathrow.
“As of now we have only one operator on the route, BA, following the merger with Aer Lingus, and while the service is fine right now, this could change. Who knows, maybe somebody else will buy British Airways?
“As George Osborne said last week a good Government fixes the roof when the sun is shining, so now is the time to prepare ourselves to protect this vital route for our economy and give Government the powers now, even if they are not immediately needed.”