Over 60 Back Heathrow supporters turned out on Wednesday night to urge GLA candidates across the political spectrum to work with Heathrow

The mood of the meeting was very supportive of the need for greater prosperity, sustainability and more Heathrow jobs for the Ealing & Hillingdon constituency of the London Assembly.

Executive Director, Parmjit Dhanda chaired the meeting and said: “It was good to hear from the Assembly candidates that they understood the role of the country’s biggest single-site employer in local job creation and economic growth. The scores of residents who attended were pleased to hear that candidates want to work with the airport and Back Heathrow to build local prosperity, improve sustainability and create new jobs.”

Local Hayes resident, Angela Nelson-Iye said, “I’ve been a supporter of Back Heathrow for many years, and I’ll never stop pushing local candidates to back our airport. Covid showed us how dependent our community is on a local, thriving airport. I’ll certainly be voting on May 2^nd in the Ealing & Hillingdon constituency, so it was great to hear from two of the candidates in person. Our next Assembly member needs to needs to work with Heathrow. It was good to hear from Anthony and Bassam.”

Other key issues discussed were the need to restore tax-free shopping for tourists and the reduction of carbon in our atmosphere through the creation of a British sustainable aviation fuel industry.

The candidates in attendance were Anthony Goodwin of the Reform Party and Cllr Bassam Mahfouz of the Labour Party. Liberal Democrat candidate Cllr Kuldev Sehra from Richmond said he could not attend due to a prior engagement and Conservative Hillingdon Councillor Henry Higgins did not respond to the invitation.

The event was held at the Hyatt Hotel on Bath Road, West Drayton on Wednesday 20^th March.

Notes to editor:

• The event was opened by Ealing Southall MP Virendra Sharma
• Heathrow is the largest business rates payer in the country totalling £120 million
• £116.8 billion worth of exports passed through the airport in 2022
• Reintroduction of tax-free shopping will produce £10.7 billion more for the economy 
• A UK SAF industry will contribute £3 billion extra for the economy, and 60,000 new jobs by 2050