Expansion of London Heathrow Airport

The expansion of London Heathrow Airport involved the proposal by BAA Limited to build a third runway and a sixth terminal at Heathrow, north of the Bath Road (A4).

The plan was supported by businesses, the aviation industry, the British Chambers of Commerce, the Confederation of British Industry, the Trades Union Congress and the then Labour government. It was opposed by Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties as opposition parties and then as a coalition government. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London as well as by many environmental and local advocacy groups and prominent individuals also opposed the project. The expansion was cancelled on 12 May 2010 by the new coalition government.

In December 2006 the DFT published a progress report on the strategy which confirmed the original vision.

In November 2007 the government started a public consultation on its proposal for a slightly shorter third runway (2,000 metres (2,187 yd)) and a new passenger terminal.

London Heathrow Terminal 5 opened in March 2008.

In January 2009 the then Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon announced that the UK government support the expansion of Heathrow by building a third runway (2200m) and sixth terminal building. The government will not themselves undertake construction, but encourage the airport operator (BAA) to apply for planning permission and carry out the work. The government anticipated that the new runway will be operational in 2015 or soon after.

In 2009 the government declared that they did not intend that the third runway should be used at full capacity when it is first opened. Initially the extra flights should be limited to 125,000 a year until 2020, rather than the 222,000 at full capacity.

In January 2009 more detailed plans for the third runway were approved together with a sixth terminal and also a major new Heathrow Hub railway station which would provide better high-speed domestic rail links to the Great Western Main Line. Plans for a high speed rail connection direct to Heathrow were however dropped during 2010.

In March 2010 the route for High Speed 2 was announced which did not include a direct connection with Heathrow, preferring a new station at Old Oak Common to the west of Paddington on the Crossrail route.

On 12 May 2010, the expansion was cancelled by the new coalition government. BAA formally dropped its plans on 24 May 2010. However, London First, a lobby group representing many of London's businesses and major employers, continue to press the coalition government to rethink their opposition to the expansion of the airport.

Reasons for Expansion:

The principal argument stated in favour of expanding Heathrow is to enhance the economic growth of the UK. As the UK's major hub airport, Heathrow is able to attract many transfer passengers and so is able to support a very wide range of direct flight destinations at high frequencies. It is therefore the world's busiest airport based on number of international passengers.The government claims that Heathrow's connectivity helps London and the South East compete with other European cities for business investment, which in turn produces economic benefits for the rest of the UK.[11] Should Heathrow's connectivity decline compared to London's European competitors, the UK would fall behind.

The government's argument is that Heathrow is on the brink of suffering a decline in connectivity. Heathrow’s runways are now operating at around 99% capacity, which increases delays when flights are disrupted, and risks competing European airports gaining destinations at Heathrow's expense. The government estimates that building a third runway would allow Heathrow to increase its connectivity, bringing £5.5bn of economic benefits over 2020-2080.[6] However, the British Chambers of Commerce estimates the economic benefits are £30 billion for the UK economy over the same time scale and has also stated that for every year the programme is delayed, it costs the UK between £900 million and £1.1 billion.

Despite the fall in passenger numbers caused by the global recession, supporters of expansion argue that demand will increase again when the recession ends.

Some of the capacity added to Heathrow by the addition of a third runway could be used to re-instate or improve flight connections to UK cities. Several cities have seen their connections to Heathrow reduced or lost over recent years as airlines have reallocated the airport's limited capacity to more profitable long-haul flights.

A third runway would increase Heathrow's resilience to disruption, and so reduce emissions from aircraft waiting to land.

Construction would provide up to 60,000 jobs. Operating the expanded Heathrow would create up to 8,000 new jobs at Heathrow by 2030, with multiplier benefits to west London.

BAA believes that the proposed North South High Speed Rail link joining with Heathrow will funnel more passengers to Heathrow, putting further pressure on capacity and boosting the case for a new landing strip - with increased demand in particular for long haul flights.

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Maani Sharma [ MBA Aviation ]
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