Heathrow claims don’t stand up to scrutiny

WITH a parliamentary vote on a third Heathrow runway looming, the airport has been busy trying to win the support of MPs outside south-east England by promising new jobs and new regional connections.

In fact, it can’t deliver either, and the Government’s vague promises to support regional airports (while expanding Heathrow) lack any substance.

Heathrow’s estimates of new jobs generated by the project don’t stand up to scrutiny, not least because much of the employment created by the scheme would mean shifting people out of their local area and into south-east England.

In contrast to Heathrow’s talk of 14 domestic connections if it gets a new runway, official forecasts show the number of domestic connections into Heathrow falling to just five by 2050 (from eight today), even with expansion.

In terms of passenger demand, a bigger Heathrow would mean less growth at almost every other UK airport, those forecasts show.

Finally, the “national benefit” the Government claims from the scheme excludes both its environmental costs (climate change, noise and air pollution) and the public cost of the extra road and rail infrastructure required.

A third runway at Heathrow Airport would benefit Heathrow Airport. It’s very doubtful that the rest of us stand to gain, as acknowledged by the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green parties, which have all come to the conclusion that this proposal fails on both sustainability and economic grounds.

We hope that MPs will vote no to the Government’s third runway plan.

CAIT HEWITT

Deputy director, Aviation Environment Federation London