Foreign airlines shunning UK due to lack of space at Heathrow airport, BAA ... - Telegraph.co.uk

"The message I hear from airlines is clear: if there's no room at Heathrow then flights will move out of the UK altogether.

"Instead of Britain taking the lead in forging new links with growing economies like China, we are handing economic growth to our competitors by turning away airlines who want to bring jobs, growth and trade to the UK."

The Coalition made a manifesto pledge that it would not sanction an expansion of Heathrow during this Parliament but there are hopes key members of the Government are realising the need to increase hub capacity.

Ministers have been warned that other proposals such building "Boris Island", a new airport on the Thames Estuary, are too long-term and would be difficult to fund.

Frontier Economics recently published research showing there are 21 emerging market destinations with daily flights from other European hubs that are not served from Heathrow.