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Third Runway At Heathrow Approved But Not Accepted

January 19, 2009 at 9:30 AM | by amandak | 5 Comments

Looks like our most hated airport, the chaos they call London Heathrow, may get a third runway. British Airways CEO Willie Walsh has been agitating for this for years, but not everybody's on his side.

The British government has just approved the third runway proposal, but there are still a few obstacles before planes will be landing there. To start, the new runway (plus another terminal for it) would be ready, at the earliest, in 2015, and more likely 2020 or later.

On top of that, it's not even certain that the third runway will be allowed. With an election due before mid-2010, some are speculating that anti-runway campaigners might be able to delay construction long enough for the political leadership to change in the UK. And if the Conservative Party wins, they might scrap the whole idea.

So the third runway at Heathrow sounds like a story that won't go away any time soon. Perhaps it'll become farcical enough that we'll see music videos and online games about it, just like the disastrous opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5. That'd be fun.

Related Stories:
· British Govt OKs 3rd Runway for Heathrow [AP]
· We're So Not Alone In Hating Heathrow [Jaunted]
· US Airways Joining the Heathrow Scrum [Jaunted]

[Photo: Liberal Democrats]

5 Comments

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Return to » Third Runway At Heathrow Approved But Not Accepted

  1. Victor Ozols

    Jaunted Editor

    Gatwick, anyone?

    I've always done well by flying in and out of Gatwick rather than Heathrow. The train connection to central London is so good, I hardly notice the difference. But then again, I'm not a Londoner. I get annoyed when I have to fly out of Newark, since I live in Brooklyn, so I can see why some of them would want their most convenient airport to increase its capacity rather then making the trek.
    January 19, 2009 at 9:47 AM
    #Permalink

  1. amandak

    Jaunted Member

    Agreed

    Gatwick is definitely easier and even Stansted hasn't wronged me as much as Heathrow. Unfortunately that only worked when I lived in Europe - flying in from Asia tends to dump you kicking and screaming at Heathrow, whether you like or not. Not, in most cases.
    January 19, 2009 at 6:47 PM
    #Permalink

  1. flip43

    Jaunted Member

    Heathrow 3rd runway

    Walsh has only been CEO of BA since mid-2006 so how can he be described as "agitating for the third runway for years." The man may be a megalomaniac but get your facts straight.
    January 19, 2009 at 8:05 PM
    #Permalink

  1. amandak

    Jaunted Member

    years

    i reckon 2006 to 2009 qualifies as years. seems like a long time to me :-)
    January 19, 2009 at 11:36 PM
    #Permalink

  1. suitcasegirl

    Jaunted Member

    Greenpeace

    Greenpeace UK, along with Emma Thompson and lots of other protesters, have actually purchased a plot of land right in the middle of the area in which the runway development is supposed to go. That means getting this built legally is going to a protracted, unpleasant legal battle, and the runway doesn't have the broad public support it would need to surmount this obstacle.
    January 20, 2009 at 2:26 PM
    #Permalink

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