By the end of next month, TAG Aviation (Booth No. 6238) expects to learn the outcome of what could prove a landmark public inquiry into the growth of business aviation traffic at London-area Farnborough Airport. Hazel Blears, Britain’s secretary of state for communities and local government, is due to rule on TAG’s application to boost the number of movements permitted each year on weekends and holidays from 2,500 to 5,000. In June 2006, the local Rushmoor Borough Council rejected this application, and TAG’s appeal resulted in a public inquiry that was held in April.
The central government ruling on this case could prove significant as TAG plans its next step in the development of the privately owned airport, which is much in demand as a dedicated business aviation gateway. TAG–which runs Farnborough under a 99-year lease from the UK’s Ministry of Defence–is working on a master plan that will outline how the airport could be further developed through 2030. It will seek to demonstrate how growth could be managed acceptably and how any side effects, including noise, could be mitigated. But the company purposely will not finalize the plan until after the public inquiry ruling.
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