Heathrow pushes for third runway

Travellers are seen at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 3. File picture: Paul Hackett

Travellers are seen at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 3. File picture: Paul Hackett

Published Oct 9, 2015

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London - Heathrow will “more than double” the number of domestic routes it serves to at least 15 if the government approves the construction of a £18.6bn third runway, the airport's chief executive has claimed.

Speaking to The Independent, John Holland-Kaye dismissed Transport for London's analysis that expansion would cut the number of British destinations reached from Heathrow from seven to four by 2030. London mayor Boris Johnson claimed this research showed expansion was a “catastrophic red herring”.

Ministers' decision on whether to approve the Airports Commission's recommendation of expanding the west London airport is due by the end of the year, but its rival Gatwick is pushing hard to be reconsidered. On Thursday, Gatwick announced its busiest ever September, with 4 million passengers travelling through the airport, prompting its chief executive Stewart Wingate to again declare that a second runway in West Sussex would be “delivered faster, with a fraction of the environmental impact”.

But Heathrow expansion could boost the wider UK economy by £211bn - partly predicated on better links to other parts of the UK. Heathrow executives have previously warned that without expansion their domestic destinations could be slashed to two, Manchester and Edinburgh.

The other existing domestic routes reach Aberdeen, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Belfast International and Newcastle airports. Amsterdam Schiphol and Paris Charles de Gaulle serve many more British destinations.

EasyJet has said expansion could allow it to start routes from Heathrow to Inverness, Isle of Man, and Jersey. Heathrow also expects the launch of routes to Newquay, Humberside, and Liverpool.

Holland-Kaye said: “As the UK's only hub, we take seriously our responsibility to promote growth across the country. That's why we recently announced a new package of commitments designed to safeguard and improve domestic connectivity at Heathrow.

“We have already started talks with airlines which could more than double the number of domestic routes into an expanded Heathrow.”

Holland-Kaye insisted he enjoys a “constructive relationship” with the Conservative Party's 2016 London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith - “on the matters we agree on”. Goldsmith, the MP for Richmond Park in south-west London, is a long-standing opponent of a third runway.

Goldsmith has argued the airport needs to be quieter. Holland-Kaye said a recent noise “blueprint for action” was partly a response to Goldsmith's arguments.

“We're now working on implementing it (the blueprint) with our airlines by trialling steeper approaches, increasing our noise fines to encourage the quietest aircraft to land here, and are even tackling the whistling sound of A320s by asking airlines to retrofit their planes,” Holland-Kaye said.

THE INDEPENDENT

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