Failure to expand Heathrow would have 30 year impact

Britain’s economy will suffer from a lack of adequate air connections for the next 30 years if the proposed expansion at Heathrow airport is not approved, according to the chief executive at British Airways.

The BA boss, Willie Walsh, made his comments before the government has announced its decision on the construction of a third runway at Heathrow. The decision is expect next month.

Walsh explained that the rejection of the expansion plan would mean that London would be without a major hub airport that could match rivals in Europe and in the Middle East – for the next generation at least.

He noted: “Since 1990, while the networks of Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris Charles de Gaulle have increased, Heathrow’s has declined by 20%. The threat to Heathrow is not just from the Continent. In Dubai, construction is well under way of a six-runway, 24-hour hub which its planners want to become the key link between aviation’s biggest market, North America, and its fastest-growing, Asia. Flights would bypass Europe completely.”

Making his comments at the Airport Operators’ Association annual conference in London, the British Airways executive went on to say: “We are not good at infrastructure planning in this country. Projects often take decades from conception to execution. We have already had six years of public scrutiny of a third runway – and we are not over the starting line.”

Thanks to www.travelmole.com for the quotes above, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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