The government has a policy – don’ t laugh – about “Making sure UK airports and airlines are safe, secure and competitive while reducing their impacts on the environment and communities.”

To this end, they’re holding some “public evidence” sessions…

Airports Commission Public Evidence Sessions
The Airports Commission will hold public evidence sessions on Tuesday 9th July 2013 in Manchester.
The sessions will be chaired by Sir Howard Davies and he will be joined on the panel by the other Commissioners.
The sessions are focused on the Commission’s work assessing the nature, scale and timing of the UK’s aviation needs. They will develop the evidence base on the subjects of the discussion papers – demand forecasting, connectivity, climate change and airport operational models – published by the Commission earlier this year.
The purpose of these evidence sessions will not be to discuss any specific potential locations for new aviation capacity. The Commission intends to hold further public evidence sessions on this issue in 2014, should it conclude in its interim report that additional aviation capacity is needed.

Evidence Session Timetable
July 9th – Reception Room, Manchester Town Hall, M60 2LA
09.15-11.00: Aviation and Climate Change
11.30-13.15: Aviation Demand and Connectivity

Evidence Session Structure
The Airports Commission has invited a small number of witnesses to take part, in parallel, in each session and each session will be structured as follows:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Each witness gives a presentation setting out their key arguments and evidence (c. 20 minutes in total)
Questions from the Commissioners to witnesses (c. 60 minutes)
Statements from stakeholders in the public gallery (c. 25 minutes):

How to Participate
The Airports Commission invites stakeholders and the media to attend the evidence sessions. This is an excellent opportunity to hear the key issues debated in a public forum and to contribute to the debate.
Each venue is set up to accommodate stakeholders and media in the public gallery but access to each venue requires prior notification to the Airports Commission. Please notify david.elvy@airports.gsi.gov.uk whether your organisation intends to attend and the name of the person or persons representing you.
The Commission’s communications manager, David Elvy, can provide further details and he can be contacted on 020 7227 5343.

What Happens Next?
Full transcripts of the evidence sessions will be published on the Airports Commission website.