Transport secretary Chris Grayling made the announcement to push back the vote on the government’s Airports’ National Policy Statement (NPS) until the “first half of 2018”.
The House of Commons will have to approve the NPS to allow Heathrow expansion to go ahead. The government had originally planned to hold this vote during winter 2017/18.
Grayling admitted: “The timing of the election, in particular the need to restart a select committee inquiry into the draft Airports NPS, means we now expect to lay any final NPS in Parliament in the first half of 2018, for a vote in the House of Commons.
