The Sunday Times reports Shapps, an avid amateur pilot, has diverted time and resources towards championing private aviation.
This, the paper said, extended to setting up an "advisory team" to help airfields "engage with" and lobby against the planning system.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has denied the claims. "Claims about general aviation in today’s Sunday Times are misleading," the department tweeted.
"The transport secretary works to promote all aspects of the department’s brief, including the general aviation sector, which contributes £4 billion to the economy and supports 40,000 jobs."
