Quote "I'm all for LHR expanding, but surely as soon as Runway 3 becomes full, we're back to square one aren't we?
There is no way while Justine Greening is in charge of transport, we'll get a change in transport policy anyway. There's as much chance as this changing, as APD being scrapped, despite we lose more money than it brings in!"
Dannyboy39, it will take a long time, so plan and build a fourth now as well. That will spread the load nicely for many years. Aircraft are increasingly cleaner, quieter and more fuel efficient, (the noisiest and dirtiest are already banned from the EU), so these issues will become increasingly less significant in the long term. The railways and roads are full to bursting, we have to take to the air to get around, so domestic commuter links are important as well. HS2 (if it is ever built) is complementary to existing forms of transport, not a substitute.
As for Justine, she won't be there for ever and she can be promoted out of the way if necessary. Having made her personal views so plain, she will not be able to make any decisions on this issue, that will be someone else's job. The policy will change, let's get on and do it now.
Ironically, a third runway will actually benefit those currently under the flightpath, who currently get daily noise-free half days as alternation takes place. Without a third runway, the pressure for mixed mode will become unstopable, (somehow they reckon they can squeeze in another 60,000 or so annual movements), and thel noise-free half days will be a thing of the past. Justine and her Putney constituents should be careful what they wish for!
bcn_boy, Tim Yeo admitted on The Daily Politics that he had been unenthusiastic about STN expansion, but that is irrelevant to this issue. Rightly or wrongly pax and airlines want to use LHR, and pax that cannot do so will migrate to AMS, FRA, even CDG, etc., rather than STN, BHX or MAN. It's a fact of life.
Regretably, BA can no longer make money out of BHX and MAN even with just with a shorthaul network, hence the sale of BA Connect. Consequently, BHX, MAN and GLA are no longer focus cities for BA. The point is that the likes of AF, KL and LH feed their hubs from these UK cities (and others) just as BA feeds LHR from places like BOD, LYS, MRS, NCE, TLS, (and to a lesser extent ORY), etc. in France, or CGN, DUS, HAM, MUC, and TXL, etc. in Germany, and so on.
Tim Yeo, is correct about LHR expansion and made the point that because of new EU rules on aviation (ETS), runway development at LHR would not lead to an increase in emmissions. He should know, he is the chairman of the House of Commons "energy and climate change" select committee.