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No more delays for London airports
FT editorial
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When Britain’s war cabinet decided to build a new airport at Heathrow in 1943, its intentions were conveyed in a four-page document comprising just 28 paragraphs. The paper noted laconically the Ministry of Agriculture’s concerns about the loss of arable land for the cultivation of fresh vegetables and bemoaned the need to demolish a recently completed sludge disposal works. The government was convinced that an airfield would “certainly be needed for civil purposes”. Less than three years later one was built.
These days, politicians do not of course have the excuse of war to take sweeping decisions. The hesitancy the current crop has displayed over infrastructure projects is depressing, however. For about five decades, plans to expand airport capacity in the southeast have been successively dropped after opposition at Westminster and beyond. The fate of the interim report published yesterday by Howard Davies’ Airport Commission is therefore uncertain. But its central recommendation, that Britain needs two extra runways – one by 2030, the other by 2050 – is sensible and should be heeded.
London’s airport facilities – which also include Gatwick, Stansted, London City and Luton – will be struggling to cope with an ever-increasing number of passengers. Heathrow, which operates at 98 per cent capacity, is overstretched, forcing travellers to endure long waits ahead of take-off and landing. The commission estimates that as things stand the capital’s airports will be full by 2041.
The air crunch makes it harder to add new flight routes to fast-growing countries, such as Brazil, India and China. In the long run, this will dent Britain’s competitive edge as a global corporate hub. One of the reasons businesses opt to locate their headquarters in London is the number of destinations within easy reach. Sir Howard calculates that failing to act could cost the UK £30-45bn over the next 60 years.
The commission has carefully sifted many proposals suggesting how to add capacity. Some, such as using the UK’s other regional airports, were fanciful. It is hard to see why a passenger heading for London would want to land in Bristol and then take an onward train. The shortlist includes only three projects: two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. There will also be an additional investigation into the option of building a brand new hub on the Isle of Grain in the Thames estuary, as advocated by Boris Johnson, mayor of London. Mr Johnson’s £112bn dream is Victorian is in its vision, but ultimately too disruptive and costly.
The option of expanding Gatwick is, in principle, more realistic. A second runway would cost only £10-13bn and may allow London’s second-largest airport to pitch itself as a credible competitor against Heathrow. For Gatwick to become a hub, however, a major airline or alliance would need to move there. While Heathrow remains open, Gatwick will always be second best.
This leaves expanding Heathrow as the only serious option. It is closer to central London than Gatwick and already hosts British Airways, the UK’s flag carrier. Its connections are by far the best and will further improve as a result of the completion of Crossrail and of the western link from the Great Western Main Line. While still expensive, at £13-18bn the project offers good value for money.
The snag is its location. Heathrow is close to densely populated neighbourhoods in west London. Residents are rightly concerned about the effects that more flights would have on the levels of noise in the area – and especially on house prices. All three main political parties have acknowledged the strength of these concerns and vowed not to take a decision on airport capacity until after the next general election.
The two options shortlisted by Sir Howard – which both involve expanding the airport towards the less densely populated west – may go some way towards mitigating noise pollution – if only at the cost of annoying voters elsewhere. Were the Airport Commission to give its nod to a Heathrow expansion when it takes its final decision in 2015, supporting the plan would require political courage.
A new runway at Heathrow would not be ready until 2030 at best. Its economic benefits would not be felt for decades. Yet, delay should not be an option. If Britain wants to remain competitive in the global race – as David Cameron, prime minister, likes to describe it – the public must recognise that its rivals are already out of the blocks and halfway along the track. This is no time to be double-knotting our shoelaces.
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