Anyone seriously considered Manston, with a monorail link to London? The current owners are trying to develop it, judging by the 'London-Manston Airport' and 'Kent International Airport' signs!! What's next; 'London-Manchester'?

Luton still has an under used runway which still doesn’t require a full parallel taxiway yet. Also room for 20 million passengers within the existing boundaries according to an airport study.

LTN - where they can't clear snow?

The big problem is that BA (and Oneworld) use LHR as a tourist gateway, filling shuttles with Joe Public to fill their long haul fleet. Services from EGCC & EGBB on their (and other long haul) are compromised by this (e.g. Malaysia & Cathay reducing flights from EGCC) - is R2 at EGCC actually generating more business.

Anyway unlike H & H it is the SE that gets me mad!!! (Smelly over populated dump, full of southerner - nuff said!)

'Nearly retired' mentioned Manston. If you look at a map of the immediate area it would be relatively easy to add a second runway on the ground as few people would be directly moved out. The approaches would make life rather horrid in Broadstairs and Ramsgate at one end and Whitstable and Herne Bay at the other but most of the approach is over the sea. . .The Channel Tunnel Rail Link goes through Ashford to the south and there is already a low-quality rail link from Thanet to Ashford. . .There is dual carriageway road all the way from the M25 which could be upgraded.. .On the down side it is further from the rest of the UK so it would be less convenient for anyone travelling from other places other than London.. .Interesting thought, though.

LTN Man

What do you mean "doesn't require a full parallel taxiway" ???????????????

From an historical perspective it is likely that H'n'H is closest to reality - hope your BP is back to normal now! This subject has cropped up periodically since before I started flying, 34 years ago. The solution has invariably been a botched compromise which has coped, barely adequately, and always retrospectively.

In the mean time many of our productive industries have dwindled to minor or non-existent status, mostly through lack of national cohesion or sound leadership. By all accounts the UK has already been allocated the primary role of Service Industry centre in the EU Master Plan, so that's alright then. While Cunard's latest mega-liner is under construction at St Nazaire, I often see the the empty shipyards of Tyne, Clyde and Belfast and wonder how such a prototype democracy allowed itself to throw so much away. Our once nearly self-sufficient agricultural industry is rapidly heading in the same direction with much political, and even popular, blessing. The list of further examples would make an essay.

The infrastructure of southeast England is already overstretched demographically, and here I disagree with akerosid about the importance of LHR. Apart from the insoluable problem of removing and relocating local communities, why pour more and more into one funnel? Even if you could destroy half of Hounslow, etc, it wouldn't improve access to and around the place. I think T5 has already taken care of the practical side of this issue, as intimated by under_exposed. It will probably be built one day and put even more pressure on LHR's resources. A third runway is highly ulikely.

LGW, which is often easier to reach than LHR, built a terminal on the only practical site that could have accommodated a second runway. North or south, and however much the local economy depends on the airport, the residents (and therefore their elected reps) would not allow the development. The solution would be to raize the North Terminal. I think not. Careers at BAA (the owning company) are far too short to worry about long-term strategy!

STN is the nearest existing "London" airport to Gaza's greenfield site, as it was about 30 years ago when the Maplin alternative was under discussion. It is still highly suitable. LTN has a useful shorthaul role but is limited by its location, local residents (good bye Vauxhall) and owners. As the song goes, " You don't know what you've got till it's gone." It works both ways.

As a "Maplin" would be probably out of the financial and ecological picture these days, I really believe that the future of our UK airport industry lies in dispersal rather than in funnelling. In respect of southeast UK, and its population density, Manston and Lydd are within these bounds as they almost have a ground infrastructure that could be improved relatively cheaply. Having flown out of both in my distant past, I would suggest that administrative inertia will see neither come to pass but would be delighted to be proved wrong. I only have to think of how long and how over-schedule the upgrade of the Thanet Way was to reinforce my hunch that the elected worthies of Kent fail to grasp reality. I continue to wish those entrepreneurs at MSE and LYX the best of luck.

I fully agree with madge about "north of the Watford Gap", as it fits my dispersal theory. I don't believe that the correct solution will happen. On the basis of recent history, we will just muddle on in our usual fashion ("Well, it's worked since 1945 . . .?"). I do hope I am wrong. Time is running out.

Excuse me Madge but didn't Manchester recently open a new R/W or was I only dreaming <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">

Thanks DrSyn, feeling much better Ta! <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">

In the history books of the future, I wonder how they will describe the UK today? Stone Age ... Bronze Age ... Industrial Age ... Monumental C**k-up Age! :)

Ho hum!!!!!!!! H 'n' H

Hmm,

An existing runway in excess of 10,000', oodles of space for terminals, taxyways etc, dual carriageway access to the motorway system, on a main railway line with an existing station and less than one hour from central London. A planner's dream n'est ce pas?.

Only Britain could have spent five years reclaiming Greenham Common's runway for hard core and then set about deciding where to build three new runways in the South East!

It is obvious, from a transit passengers point of view, that LHR is long overdue for modernization and in dire need of extra runway / terminal capacity. In it's present state, I am amazed that LHR is indeed capable of attracting such a vast number of transit pax. I understand the 30 million who use LHR as a gateway to the UK, but for the remaining 30 mill or so I can not for the life of me comprehend why they use LHR, unless they are deeply in love with BA (FQTV miles).

As developments go, LHR has been lacking far behind CDG, FRA and AMS for years. Now, CDG is not the best in the world, and neither is AMS or FRA. But both AMS and CDG beats LHR any day for transfer pax, whereas FRA is only slightly better. I do hope that LHR will continue developing, but as the case was with T5 I have my doubts.

I don't understand why people are so convinced that LHR needs a new runway/terminal etc. As far as i'm concerned, LHR is finished as far as expansion is concerned. Same as Gatwick. We should have grabbed the land while we had it, but now it's residential land, so to try and develop will mean 5+years of legal battles with the NIMBY's who probably moved into said houses because they wanted jobs at LHR/LGW!. .Now, Standsted is a different matter. It's a lot less developed, and is about equidistant North from the centre of the great smog as LHR is west and LGW is south. The best solution is get REALLY good transport links to London and possibly LHR in place, and develop the hell out of it while they still can! Even if they have virtually untouched terminals, runways etc sitting there for a few years, I guarantee that they won't stay that way.. .The end result? Londons 3rd MAJOR airport, ready to reduce the load on LGW,LHR, and with room to grow

Or have I got it completely wrong!

WO

FlapsOne

Luton will only get a full parallel taxiway when traffic levels increase to a sufficient level to warrant the expense. Not my words but the airports.

Extra terminals and runways at LHR are all well and good, but where will the extra sky needed to accommodate the extra a/c movements come from?

Additional expansion at LHR can only exacerbate the existing problem of ATC congestion in and around "The Great Wen", or am I missing something here? <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

Lots of room at Stansted, this townie would have thought! :)

I am afraid it all seems part of a great British malaise - in 20 years, it will be in the same condition as the railways: under-regulated and under-coordinated mess, and I'll take a bet with anyone that there are no new runways, and Heathrow is painted easyJet orange (and good luck to them).

Anybody with a spine in Parliament to get the whole lot sorted? Thought not. Any of us want to have a go instead?

[ 01 February 2002: Message edited by: Lucifer ]</p>

Surely it would make sense to make more use of regional airports. Thus freeing-up space at Gatwick and Heathrow to allow for the projected increase in trans-Atlantic travel etc. More charter flights could certainly be operated out of Southampton or Bournemouth and I'm sure that the story is similar in other parts of the country. What we need to do is get rid of these high supplements that encourage use of certain airports while driving passengers away from regionals. £100 extra to fly to Majorca from Bournemouth with Airtours in August is daft. Luckily for us we have the worlds 3rd best airline (voted for by a Which! survey) Palmair operating flights. They don't add a supplement and therefore have little trouble filling their flights.

LTN Man

I accept they are not your words.

But they're still wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!

The time to build is now, BEFORE the traffic levels increase..........not WHEN or AFTER.

Flaps One is entirely correct!

Anyone who flies into EDI on a regular basis (another BAA mess, incidentally!) will bear witness to the fact that you need the infrastucture in place BEFORE the traffic arrives. Manchester, Liverpool, etc. seem to realize this - why can't BAA (and the Government, for that matter!).

Surely the best (last/only) option has to be new runways at Stansted, with the existing rail link upgraded and connected to the Eurostar network.

Notwithstanding that, I fear we've already lost the battle on this. In ten years' time Heathrow will be way down the European table (maybe 5th, or even 6th). It's already shockingly below par by comparison with any major airport I can think of. As mentioned above, UK PLC has squandered yet another opportunity!

Now, I think I'm going to learn French and move to Paris! <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[ 02 February 2002: Message edited by: 1261 ]</p>

Does anyone know of any web links to proposed (or past)Maplin/Thames Estuary airport developments?