October 10, 2011
Willie Walsh, chief executive of International Airlines Group, has poured cold water on a plan to link London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports by high-speed train.
The British government said on Saturday that it was considering connecting the airports -- creating a virtual hub dubbed Heathwick -- to increase capacity in the London aviation market after it rejected a third runway at Heathrow.
"The challenges (Heathwick) faces are very significant," Walsh told the Sunday Telegraph. "I don't know how long it would take to develop. I don't know how much it would cost."
Walsh said he believed that shelving the plan for a third runway at Heathrow, which would have been funded by the airlines using the airport, would be viewed in future years as a "huge mistake".
The Heathwick scheme, which was reported by the Financial Times to cost GBP£5 billion, would be included in the Government's review of aviation policy in spring 2012, a Department for Transport spokesman said on Saturday.