After three years of deliberation, the Airports Commission, chaired by Sir Howard Davies, has said that a third runway at Heathrow is the best way to expand southeast England’s airport capacity, offering “the greatest strategic and economic benefits”. The project, expected to cost £18bn, could be completed by 2026, adding £147bn to the economy over 60 years.
However, a second runway at Gatwick remains “a credible” option. It urged the government to reach a decision quickly. Last year, Heathrow lost its position as top international passenger hub to Dubai.
What the commentators said
While “the great political minds have dithered” for years over airport capacity – costing us global business travellers and global business – expanding Heathrow has been the obvious choice, said Kulveer Ranger on spectator.co.uk. It supports a buzzing local economy and remains “unbeatable in terms of transport connectivity”.
Bolstering this key national infrastructure won’t suit those who live under the flight path, but they have been unhappy with it since the 1940s. As long as strict noise and time restrictions are observed, as the report recommends, this is the right result.
The ball is now in the government’s court, said John Longworth, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce. “If ministers duck this decision, and delay airport expansion for another generation, British business and our overall competitiveness will pay the price.” But duck it they probably will.
Witness “the mystifying spectacle of ministers keeping at arm’s length” a £20m, three-year report that they asked for, said Sam Coates in The Times. The problem is that the Tories expected to be able to come to an agreement with the Lib Dems, who were anti-Heathrow, while Nick Clegg was pro-Gatwick. Heathrow could have been ditched in favour of Gatwick, “and both sides would have been happy to let the Lib Dems take both the credit and the blame”.
Now, with the Tories governing alone, all the “factions and divisions” within the party have surfaced, said Robert Lea in The Times. Get set for a long wait, said the Daily Mail’s Laura Chesters. British Airways boss Willie Walsh says he doesn’t think the Heathrow expansion will happen in his lifetime because “politicians have not been brave enough to make a decision”.