EasyJet chief executive Andy Harrison told the committee: ``South east England is desperately short of runway capacity. I don't think the recession is likely to have an impact on the growth in air travel.

``It is very important that the UK has sufficient capacity to compete internationally.''

On APD, Mr Ridgway said: ``The tax was doubled in 2008 and now there are going to be more increases, some of which are quite disproportionate.''

He added that there were concerns about the levels of APD on flights to the Caribbean. Mr Ridgway went on: ``The Caribbean would not exist without the jet engine.''

Mr Harrison said: ``Loading taxation on to aviation is not a good thing to do.''

He added that if the idea of APD was to serve as a green tax, it was not the most effective way of doing it.

Asked about the disruption to passengers at Heathrow's Terminal 5 (T5) last weekend, Colin Matthews, chief executive of airport operator BAA, promised the committee: ``It won't happen again.''

He said the problem had nothing to do with the difficulties which plagued the £4.3 billion T5 when it opened in March last year.