BBC NEWS | England | Coventry/Warwickshire (original) (raw)

Coventry Airport

The airport is used by Thomsonfly

An airport's plan to build a new terminal, capable of handling up to two million passengers per year, has been turned down by the government.

A public inquiry held into Coventry Airport's plans found there would be an adverse impact in terms of noise.

Airport managing director, Chris Orphanou, said he was "bitterly disappointed" with the decision.

But MP James Plaskitt welcomed the decision and said he was pleased the government backed his objections.

'Weak case'

The Labour MP for Warwick and Leamington said: "This has been a long campaign on behalf of many constituents.

"I always felt that the airport had a weak case.

"I always argued that local air travel demand could be adequately met at Birmingham.

"I am really pleased that these arguments I have been pushing for years now have been fully backed by the inspector and the government."

The airport said it would still be business as usual at Coventry but a legal team would be looking at the full implications of the decision.

Mr Orphanou said: "A new passenger terminal would make an enormous difference to Coventry Airport and those who use its services.

"In our view this decision is extremely short-sighted and not in the best interests of the region."