About time too ! I've espoused this idea for a long time, and especially after BA038 in Jan. What if the failure had happened just minutes earlier ? Large jets full of people over central London all day every day is just ASKING for a tragedy to happen eventually.
Hysterical nonsense. I lived near a town where a B747 crashed and demolished an entire street. A plane crash is a tragedy anywhere. Presumably you advocate closing London City at once? Or would a 146 into Canary Wharf be OK?
Gatwick outbounds also fly over central London as do the long hauls from Europe. Let's send them the long way round as well? I think perspective is becoming an endangered species these days
ANYONE with any experience of project managing a large construction project within the UK KNOWS that the figures quoted are absurdly low. Look at the Olympics, pitch a low imaginary figure, close the sale and then double, triple it and then keep climbing with the quotes. This would be the biggest construction project in Europe, as we head into recession, in the middle of a sea lane home to a huge amout of rare and protected species. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Dust off the Maplin brochures and go back to sleep. A properly regulated Runway 3 and more control on BAA would fix a lot of Heathrow's problems. Terminal 5 HAS started a long slow transformation process which Heathrow East will build upon.
As for noise? Well I hardly think there's many people that didn't know the bloody airport was there when they moved in voluntarily.
1960s : B707 / B727 / DC8 / DC9 / BAC111 / VC10 / Trident / Caravelle
1970s : B747 / L1011 / DC10 / Concorde
1980s : B757 / B767 / A310 / A320
1990s : B737NG / A330 / A340 / MD11 / EMBs
2000s : A380
Think of a taxy-ing Viscount and then whinge about "NOISE!!!!"
P E R S P E C T I V E