London Airports expansion

We are at a time when airlines are downsizing and mothballing aircraft in order to cut costs, the cost of aviation fuel has reached a record high, is set to go higher and threatening to close down many smaller airlines altogether. Add to that the increase in food prices and the cost of living and the reduced availability of credit which will, inevitably, translate into less people who can afford to travel by air.

In the midst of all this the UK’s elected ‘leaders’ seem determined to move ahead with a ridiculous project costing billions of pounds of taxpayers money that not only destroys whole townships and the environment surrounding them but wrecks the lives of tens of thousands of citizens.

What planet do these people come from?

There is simply no need to expand Gatwick, Stansted or Heathrow. Just better utilise the airports that already surround London.

Think about Heathrow and look at this picture. (Note: To increase the size of the picture right click on it and select View Image)

Image courtesy of Google Earth

This is Northolt Airport which is just 5.7 miles north of Heathrow with a 1,684 metre (5,500 feet) 46 metre wide asphalt runway. It is easily accessible. The A40 road runs along its southern fence and the Central Line (part of the London Underground network) passes close to its eastern fence.

Why not make Northolt part of London Heathrow and use it for movements by B737, A320 and MD80 (and smaller) aircraft currently using Heathrow itself? Let Heathrow then concentrate on B777/A330/MD11 (and larger) aircraft movements. We are talking about up to 200 movements a day that could be taken away from Heathrow to ease the congestion.

Northolt will require a terminal building and multi-story car parking (there is plenty of space on the south side as you can see from the picture) and an underground link to the Piccadilly Line that will allow speedy transfer of passengers from Northolt to the various terminals at Heathrow.

That’s going to cost a whole lot less than the present suggestion and will probably remove any necessity for an expansion at Heathrow forever.

Look at this picture.

Image courtesy of Google Earth

This is a map of the biggest airports that ring London today. They’re all active and they’ve been there for years and most of them are totally under-utilised.

In the same way that I have suggested for Heathrow, Gatwick could hive off smaller traffic to Biggin Hill whilst Luton and Stansted could spread their operations by adding Benson (to the west) and Southend (to the East) thereby creating an arc of four airports north of London.

And look at Farnborough just to the south west of Heathrow. It has a 2,380 metre runway – long enough for the biggest aircraft. This airport is ideally situated for passengers coming up from the West Country.

What London DOES need is fast, comfortable rail links between all these inner airports. That is where the taxpayers money should be spent.

I have left London City Airport out of this because its primary purpose is to support the City of London business houses that need fast access into the European capitals. It is not a long-haul, tourist travel facility.

Finally, look at what is available regionally.

• East – Manston
• South – Bournemouth and Southampton
• West – Exeter, Bristol and Newquay
• South Wales – Cardiff
• The Midlands – Birmingham.
• The North – Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds/Bradford.
• Scotland – Glasgow and Edinburgh.

There is more than enough existing airport capacity to cover the nation’s needs for the foreseeable future.

There is certainly no need to expand anything.