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Airports: Transport

Asked by Greg SmithConservativeDepartment for TransportTabled Answered 20 May 2026UIN 1259

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 1 April 2026 to Question 123240, whether his Department has issued any formal guidance to airport operators on meeting surface access environmental targets.

Answered by Keir Mather

The expectations around the development and monitoring of airports’ surface access plans were first set out in the Department’s “Guidance on Airport Transport Forums and Airport Surface Access Strategies” in 1999. It is for the airport operator, working with local stakeholders through its Airport Transport Forum, to create the strategy, taking into consideration national and local policy guidance and frameworks, planning conditions and local infrastructure considerations.

This government’s recent approvals of airport expansion projects at Gatwick and Luton also highlight specific surface access targets which must be met such as through the mode share targets at Gatwick and Green Controlled Growth Framework at Luton.

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