Heathrow unveils third runway plan

17 July 2013 Last updated at 08:33 ET Continue reading the main story

Heathrow Airport has unveiled three options for a new runway, saying each one would be "quicker and cheaper" than plans for a rival hub airport.

The airport's submission to the Davies Commission, which is looking at raising airport capacity, outlined a runway to the north, north-west or south-west of the existing airport.

It said a new runway could be in place by 2029, allowing 260,000 more flights.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said such an expansion would be "disastrous".

'Global hub status'

According to Heathrow's submission, building a new runway would deliver extra capacity at the airport by 2025-29 and would allow it to operate 740,000 flights a year - up from the current limit of 480,000.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

I've just been looking back through my notes from last year, when I talked to government officials about the prospect of building a third runway at Heathrow.

They told me it was "dead and buried" and said they'd look at "all ideas bar a third runway". Back then we also had a Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, who lived under the flight path and had campaigned against the plan.

What a difference to today, when a third runway at the UK's biggest and busiest airport is very much back on the table.

This is a big week for airports. By Friday, we'll know all the different suggestions on how they could expand.

But don't let all this apparent momentum fool you. This is one of the thorniest issues in politics, and there are plenty in the industry who think that 20 years from now, nothing will have actually been done.

The plans would "maintain the UK's global hub status for the foreseeable future" and "protect the thriving businesses and plentiful jobs that surround Heathrow", it said.

Heathrow's preferred option would be to place a new runway to the north-west or the south-west of the airport.

This would "deliver a full-length third runway while minimising the impact on the local community".

The submission also detailed how a new westerly runway would help reduce noise pollution because planes would not have to fly so low over London.

It predicted that, even with a third runway, there would be 10-20% fewer people affected by noise under its new plans.

The option of building north of the airport would be the quickest and cheapest, the airport acknowledged - but it would also be the noisiest and have the biggest impact on residential property.

Each of the options would mean the compulsory purchase of some properties and some property demolitions, as well as potentially major work on the M25.

The submission also outlined the need for a sixth terminal at Heathrow as part of the plans - which would enable the airport to handle 130m passengers a year, rather than the current figure of 70m.

'Flying pigs'

Heathrow chief executive Colin Matthews said: "After half a century of vigorous debate but little action, it is clear the UK desperately needs a single hub airport with the capacity to provide the links to emerging economies which can boost UK jobs, GDP and trade.

Heathrow Chief Executive Colin Matthews: "Uncertainty, that's the message I hear from people, they want to know"

"It is clear that the best solution for taxpayers, passengers and business is to build on the strength we already have at Heathrow."

He continued: "Today we are showing how that vision can be achieved while keeping the impact on local residents to an absolute minimum."

Mr Matthews said he had not ruled out a fourth runway at Heathrow, but said this would not be needed until at least 2040.

However, Mr Johnson said the proposals for a new runway at Heathrow "were politically, environmentally and socially unacceptable".

"There will be more pigs flying than aircraft if we are to believe the claim that three runways at Heathrow will make less noise than two," he said.

Mr Johnson added the move "would be a disastrous outcome for Londoners, nor would it solve our aviation capacity crisis as a fourth runway would need to be in the planning process before a third was even open".

On Monday, the mayor published proposals for three possible replacement hubs - an artificial island in the Thames Estuary dubbed "Boris Island", a major expansion at Stansted, or an airport at the Isle of Grain in north Kent.

'Reheated and rehashed'

All airports must submit their plans to the commission by 19 July.

Heathrow residents' group Hacan said they would fight any proposal for a new runway "tooth and nail" and Greenpeace accused the airport of presenting a "reheated and rehashed" plan with the same "flawed arguments that failed so categorically last time around".

But business groups backed the plans, including the trade body which represents Britain's airlines.

The Board of Airline Representatives said no other proposal so far on airport capacity could "deliver the UK's hub airport capacity quicker, at the right cost, or in the right place for airlines and their passengers".

The Institute of Directors said expanding Heathrow was "the best way to solve Britain's airport capacity conundrum".

The Davies Commission, chaired by Sir Howard Davies, was set up last year to examine "the need for additional UK airport capacity and recommend to government how this can be met in the short, medium and long term".

It is expected to recommend options by the end of this year, but will not submit its final report until summer 2015 - after the next general election.

Comparison of Heathrow options
	Heathrow today	North	North west	South west
Passenger capacity	80m	123m	130m	130m
Max flights	480,000	702,000	740,000	740,000
Cost		?14bn	?17bn	?18bn
Length of new runway		2,800m	3,500m	3,500m
People affected by noise	243,000	-10%	-15%	-20%
Housing lost		2,700	950	850
Opening date		2025	2026	2029
Construction complexity		Low	Medium	High

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23337754#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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