You have only to listen to any broadcast from Central London to realise why Heathrow should close,apart from all the congestion and lack of space for expansion.
Do you mean Boris? Even he's gone quiet on the idea of closing Heathrow, suggesting that it could survive as an "Orly-style airport":
"
As for the existing hub at Heathrow, you could keep an Orly-style airport"
First stage in abandoning the estauary and backing Heathrow?
Perhaps it's the "Uxbridge" effect?
Why not "Boris Island" Aligned 23/05 with at least 6 runways with transport links north and South along a barrier across the estuary opening up East Kent and Essex and generating tidal power for the airport? Think big! Of course,any political party that starts it will have it immediately cancelled by the next government,like most of our potentially great aviation achievements.
Your argument would carry more weight if you were arguing for (1) a new airport easily accessible from all of the UK, i.e. to the west/north west of London, and (2) an airport a little nearer to London.
But even if a new airport was to be built, Heathrow still needs expansion in the interim, so we might as well stick with it.
Heathrow has been a millstone round the neck of commercial aviation,in Britain,for decades.It's about time we bit the bullet.
So you say, but the evidence suggests otherwise. 70,000,000+ pax (who have other choices) cannot be wrong.
Airlines are falling over themselves and spending millions to acquire LHR slots, and the very fast exodus from LGW by American carriers at the ending of the "Bermuda 2" arrangements doesn't exactly suggest "
a millstone round the neck of commercial aviation,in Britain,for decades". You cannot be serious.
It is not Heathrow that is the millstone, it is the gutless politicians that are the problem. Also, the millstone is not just around the neck of commercial aviation, but around UK PLC.
Indeed, nicely put.
Come May a few of those "gutless" politicians might not actually be there to even make the decision now anyway !
One would think so, but even well publicised expenses abuses wasn't enough to unseat many MPs.