Linking Heathrow to UK regional airports 'critical' to solving capacity problem, says Howard Davies "It's been made very clear to us in our regional visits that, unless we think about connectivity to London, we will miss a big part of the picture," said Sir Howard, who is chairing a six-strong expert committee examining options for airport expansion. In a discussion document published on Thursday, he argues that one of the industry's biggest problems is Heathrow is focused on connecting with airports overseas at the expense of those at home. "The number of domestic UK destinations served from Heathrow has fallen to seven in 2013, compared with 10 in 2000," Sir Howard told The Independent. The big fear in places such as Belfast and Edinburgh is that if you only have a constrained airport like Heathrow, it will grow its links to China at the expense of regional flights - and to some extent that's happened. Recommendations for expansion are due in 2015 but Sir Howard fears any firm decision on airport capacity could be shelved for some time after that. The optimist in me says there might be a moment immediately after the next election, when a new government has a willingness to grapple with this and make decisions. Maybe it will get lost in the mire again but I hope not. Meanwhile, Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airlines, has slammed the capacity debate as "the longest-running real-life episode of Yes Minister." Speaking at an industry dinner in London he said that "like it or not a third and fourth runway at Heathrow will have to be built" to allow Britain to keep up with the "mega hub" airports that are being developed elsewhere in the world.