UK government presses ahead with Heathrow third runway plans

The UK government announced on 15 January that construction of a third runway at London Heathrow is to proceed, despite misgivings from politicians, local residents and anti-expansion groups.

Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon told the House of Commons that the third runway will form part of a GBP9 million (USD13 million) expansion at Heathrow that also involves building a sixth passenger terminal (T6).

Construction work is planned to begin in 2015, with the new runway and terminal opening in 2019.

The runway north of Heathrow would be 2,200 m long and T6 would require the demolition of the village of Sipson.

Traffic at Heathrow in 2008 declined slightly, falling by 1.4 per cent to 66.9 million as the airport functioned at close to full capacity. Heathrow remains the top airport in Europe in terms of passenger traffic, but the expansion announcement has come as a relief to operator BAA. It has argued consistently that runway capacity and T6 are vital if the airport is to maintain its status as a major hub in competition with other European airports such as Paris Charles de Gaulle (four runways), Amsterdam Schiphol (six) and Frankfurt am Main (three, with a fourth due to enter service in 2011).

Welcoming the government's announcement, BAA Chief Executive Officer Colin Matthews made the economic argument in favour of expansion. "This decision opens the door to Heathrow becoming a truly world-class hub airport," he said.

He acknowledged, however, that meeting the government's environmental targets would be "demanding". 248 of 1,013 words