Just watching the Sky News debate now. In my opinion it has to be Heathrow RWY 3. AMS, DXB, FRA and even bloody CDG have been gutting LHR, and therefore the whole UK economy for years. I and several people I know actively avoid LHR because of the fragility of the schedule due to it being at capacity all day every day, when it used to be our default long haul transfer hub.
Missed the debate unfortunately, was it good?
It really is so obvious. Don’t know why Davis came up with a shortlist of three when only one is necessary. Perhaps it’s because of ludicrous fixed term parliaments nonsense and the consequent delayed election that Davis has to buy time before the final report.
This will almost certainly be kicked into the long grass (more taxpayers' money wasted).
Gatwick RWY #2 will not solve this problem. You'll get far more marginal routes to South America/China etc in LHR than you would in LGW.
Indeed, LGW is an irrelevance in the need for increased hub capacity.
The idea of extending the north runway to 6,000m and making it 2 runways works.,...assuming there's never a go around there again. Madness
The extended-then-split rwy idea also requires permanent mixed mode. This is a non-starter because
all respite for flight path residents would be eliminated.
Give Heathrow the go ahead, BUT if Gatwick still want to privately fund their own runway too, absolutely let them, as 10 years after this runway being debated now is completed, another will be needed.
It would be needed at LHR, because LGW will never be full whilst there is spare capacity at LHR. So if/when LHR fills up again, it will still be a hub capacity issue.
I am repeating myself:
1. I agree that we need R3 more than 20 years ago.
2. If R3 is built, it will make no substantial change to the situation.
That is because only a small amount of the hub pax will return. Folks in the regions have got used to going to the usual suspects or the new suspects (M.E.) and have their FFMs etc. We are, as so often, 25 years to late to catch the horse.
Maybe, maybe not. Millions of pax, old and new will have increased choices of destinations, hubs, timings and prices. What’s not to like?