Originally Posted by
Prophead
To choose Gatwick over LHR would likely go down as one of the biggest infrastructure planning blunders of the century.
There would likely come a time, when we have HS2, Crossrail & HS4 operational and huge numbers of people are having to travel to Gatwick via Heathrow. The rest will have to go via central London but probably choose to drive instead of that creating more traffic on the M25.
Of course if Gatwick is expanded a huge M4/M25 upgrade will likely go ahead at some point anyway at great expense to the taxpayer.
I don't agree with any of this.
Of the three busiest airport systems on earth (London, New York, Tokyo) London is the outlier in having one hub. The rest have two - JFK and EWR in New York, NRT and HND in Tokyo.
In a world where LHR is not expanded and LGW is, LHR would remain popular and would inevitably continue to grow. The land around it would continue to be valulable.
Ultimately, if the sole criteria is financial, the best case and the only rational decision is LGW.