Heathrow says focus is on airport expansion
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's busiest airport Heathrow [FERHT.UL] said it was focused on its campaign to build a new runway after being named by a government-appointed commission as the preferred site for expansion.
Publishing its first-half results on Friday, Heathrow said passenger numbers rose 1.3 percent, boosting its adjusted core earnings to 748 million pounds, a rise of 6.3 percent compared with the year-earlier period.
The airport has for years been campaigning to be allowed to expand because it is already operating at full capacity, but faces opposition from some prominent politicians, local residents and environmental groups.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will make a decision on whether a new runway should be built at Heathrow by the end of the year, something on which Heathrow Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye said the airport was working.
"Our focus now is on working closely with government to deliver the benefits of expansion for all of the UK as quickly as possible," Holland-Kaye said in a statement.
In a positive sign for Heathrow's bid to get the green light, Cameron overlooked the most vocal opponents of the airport's expansion when he set up a new aviation committee to consider the issue earlier this week.
The commission has said that building a new runway at Gatwick, Britain's no.2 airport, is also a viable option.
Heathrow's largest shareholder is Spanish infrastructure firm Ferrovial. Other partners include Qatar Holding, China Investment Corp and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by David Holmes)
