Britain
Heathrow’s third runway
In June, the UK parliament approved the construction of a third runway at Heathrow airport in London. The plan is controversial, but 415 MPS voted in favour of it, with 119 against. Those favouring the expansion say that Britain is losing business to European cities like Amsterdam (five main runways) as well as to Frankfurt and Paris, both of which have four runways.
Currently, Heathrow serves 76 million passengers a year, with an average of 1,300 flights a day. Not surprisingly, people who live under Heathrow’s flight path in west London are worried about increased noise and pollution. They also fear a further drop in property values, although people who own or live in property directly affected by the new runway may be entitled to compensation. Local authorities and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, have expressed opposition to the expansion.
affected [E(fektid] betroffen
approve sth. [E(pru:v] etw. genehmigen
compensation [)kqmpen(seis&n] Entschädigung
entitled: be ~ to sth. [In(tait&ld] das Recht auf etw. haben
expansion [Ik(späns&n] hier: Ausbau
flight path [(flait PA:T] Flugschneise
mayor [mee] Bürgermeister(in)
MP (member of parliament) [)em (pi:] UK Abgeordnete(r)
pollution [pe(lu:s&n] hier: Luftverschmutzung
property value [(prqpeti )välju:] Grundstücks-, Immobilienwert
runway [(rvnwei] Start- und Landebahn
serve sb. [s§:v] hier: jmdn. abfertigen