ITM UPDATE

The on-going, never-ending saga of Heathrow’s third runway just rumbles on.

It’s just one example of the decision paralysis that our political system can bring about. Our international trading neighbours watch us continue to restrict the growth of the most highly prized flight destination in the world with incredulity.

I think the decision on additional runway capacity at our most strategically important transport hub would have been a better use of a national vote than the Brexit question. We must of course be mindful of the environmental and human impacts of such a project.

When all permissions are finally granted and the new runway at Heathrow opens sometime in 2030, I’ve got a horrible feeling that we’re going to wish we had taken our medicine in one go and built two new runways. The main airports of Frankfurt, Paris and Madrid already have four, whilst Amsterdam Schiphol has six runways!

Maybe we should switch our attention to encouraging Airbus and Boeing to design a vertical take-off and landing airliner to get around the issue? It might be about as likely as those extra runways at this rate!