The Heathrow Airport authorities won a Supreme Court challenge to start construction of its third runway, reported AFP.

The decision will bring cheer to the aviation
industry, which has been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic as international
travel effectively ground to a halt.

A bench of five judges at the UK’s highest
court ruled Wednesday that the UK had properly considered its commitments
under the Paris Agreement, meaning its support for another runway at Europe’s
busiest hub was legal. The judges overturned a lower court ruling, which forced
the government to review its airport policy in light of environmental
legislation.

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Environmental group Greenpeace said Prime
Minister Boris Johnson should still not allow the project to proceed, in the
light of his government’s targets on cutting carbon emissions.

The Supreme Court said the previous
Conservative government had “no obligation” to consider the Paris
climate agreement when it gave the nod to the extra runway.

“Only by expanding the UK’s hub airport can we
connect all of Britain to all of the growing markets of the world, helping to
create hundreds of thousands of jobs in every nation and region of our
country,” Heathrow said in a statement.

But Greenpeace UK urged the government to
scrap the project.

The airport authorities added that it had “already
committed” to net zero carbon emissions and that the latest ruling
“recognises the robust planning process that will require… expansion is
compliant with the UK’s climate change obligations, including the Paris Climate
Agreement.”

Construction will now have to go through the
planning process, and will face new challenges on the grounds of environmental
impact.

Heathrow has said any new runway at the
airport is unlikely to happen before 2030, if at all, dependent on post-COVID demand.

Opponents immediately branded the decision a
“disaster” in terms of tackling climate change.