LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's aviation regulator said on Tuesday the much-needed expansion of the country's airport capacity would require higher compensation payouts to communities affected by new runways.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) told a government-appointed commission tasked with recommending where a new runway should be build, that without extra compensation, the expansion plans could be scuppered.
"It's hard to see how the additional runway capacity that will benefit consumers and industry for generations to come will ever be built unless this issue is comprehensively tackled," the CAA's chief executive Andrew Haines said in a statement.
Haines was referring to the issue of higher noise levels affecting people living nearby, which he said the airport and aviation industries and the government had to do more to tackle.
Plans for expanding London's airports have been on and off the table since the 1970s, with the biggest airport Heathrow now full. Deciding where to locate extra capacity, however, is a toxic political issue because of opposition to noise pollution in densely populated parts of London and the impact on the environment.
The government commission is due to make a recommendation on whether to expand at Heathrow or Gatwick this summer, in the months following May's general election. A public consultation process connected to the process closes later on Tuesday.
In its submission, the CAA said the commission should consider recommending a government investigation into the most appropriate way to fund what it called a "game-changing" compensation package for residents most affected.
Reiterating its support for additional airport capacity to be built in the south east of London, without which it believes consumers will suffer from higher prices, the CAA also noted that airports in Britain generally spent less on compensation and on mitigating airplane noise than airports in Europe and the U.S.