About time, they've wasted two years, the third runway could have been built by now!
There is no need to worry about coalition splits. Clegg can huff and puff as much as he likes, the Libdems are going nowhere. Even if they did, "Call-Me-Dave" could easily run a minority government.
Labour has no money and will not bring the government down and risk an early election it could lose, nor will the increasingly unpopular Libdems, who would be "slaughtered". Justine could "fall on her sword" or be moved out of the way if neccessary.
There is no realistic alternative to LHR expansion, Osborne is, of course, correct on this one.
The idea of re-opening NHT to civil aviation has merits in its own right. It could become a LCY- or SEN-type operation, potentially opening up a large wealthy catchment area to the west of London to no-frills carriers and smaller carriers operating thin domestic routes. These are currently excluded from LHR mainly for financial reasons (high airport charges for small aircraft, slot costs, etc.), and because of congestion.
Thin domestic routes providing connectivity between regional airports and London and the Thames Valley are desperately needed to boost the economy and the export drive, (region to region is generally well served). LHR can no longer provide these unless it is expanded.
An airport station on the Chiltern line at NHT could provide a convenient 17-minute link to London and a 6 mi. high speed link between LHR and NHT (as has been suggested) could provide transfer potential to/from overseas flights at LHR.
Unprofitable commuter-only or feeder-only flights thus become viable as combined commuter/feeder flights, possibly on code-share with BA-BD and/or VS. Of course this depends on whether carriers (BE, U2, etc.?) can see business potential, a serious rethink on APD is also desperately
needed!
Clearly, the development of NHT is not a substitute for LHR expansion, NHT would be a small scale operation with only domestic and "near abroad" traffic. New flights to Asia and South America cannot go from there. The two projects are complementary, both could be completed relatively quickly, and both play a part in addressing lack of capacity in the south east.
A joint military-civil airport at NHT could also bring in revenue for the military, take general aviation and VIP/Royal travel away from LHR, and keep a defence capability close to London, a far better alternative to the possible closure of NHT.
It's win-win all round so let's get on with it!
Last edited by Fairdealfrank; 25th Mar 2012 at 23:47.