Would the double length runway idea really work operationally or is it full of flaws ?
It's a ludicrous idea which has only been included in the short-list as a makeweight. It would probably have never have been included at all had the only member of the Airports Commission with actual experience of running an airport not been forced to resign because of a perceived conflict of interest.
Sir Howard said on Radio 4 this morning that it "needs more work on the safety dimension", which is a masterpiece of understatement. His report puts it even more disingenuously:
"The novel nature of the proposal also means that further work to develop an acceptable safety case would be required to understand fully the capacity benefits, although the Commission has not seen any evidence to suggest that such a safety case could not be put into place."
The lack of evidence being because nowhere else in the world does such a lunatic arrangement exist.
