No Airport(s) Sold...Yet

Airports are in the news again as it has emerged that the widely anticipated sale of City of Derry Airport is not a 'done deal'.

The latest development follows considerable speculation - and an outright denial - that George Best Belfast City Airport is for sale too - and that a new report on the much-debated expansion plans for Heathrow should be temporarily shelved.

Colm Eastwood of Derry City Council's Airport Committee said they were working hard to ensure it remains a viable business in the meantime.

He also said that while a statement from the cross-border North-South Ministerial Council had said the sale would be confirmed within 18 months, Mr Eastwood said it was not true the council had already agreed to sell the airport in full or in part.

"We haven't committed to selling the airport - we haven't ruled it out either, it would be folly to rule anything out at this stage," he said.

"What we have done is committed to putting the airport on a more commercial footing, running it like a business and ensuring ratepayers get the best value for money."

Also today, in London, there has been a call to hold-off on the planned expansion of Heathrow and Stansted airports.

The Government's own 'green watchdog' said it must be postponed because the evidence supporting Britain's aviation strategy is 'inadequate' and the subject of 'fundamental disagreement'.

The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), a body set up by Tony Blair in 2000 to advise ministers on contentious environmental and economic issues, said making a decision on major projects such as the third runway at Heathrow, expected this summer, and a second runway at Stansted on the basis of current heavily disputed evidence was not possible in the current climate of conflict and controversy.

In Belfast, reports that the City Airport is being sold by its Spanish-based owners have also been denied, despite widespread speculation on the move.

See: No 'For Sale' Sign As City Airport Bids For Extension

See: "Hold' Heathrow Expansion Says Commission

(BMcC)