Two posts ago I wrote about GreenPeace’s efforts to keep Heathrow’s expansion from happening – by purchasing part of the land. However, yesterday the multibillion-dollar runway was approved by the British government; angering many critics and environmental friendly activists. The runway still has a long way to go – many speculate it will be completed sometime between 2015 and 2020.
The argument for the new runway was all business and income related. Apparently London’s Heathrow is overcrowded, and the current number of runways are not suffice to handle the amount of capacity needed (running at 99% currently). The frequent delays and the spaceless terminals would divert key airlines and traffic to other airports – such as Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, and Madrid.
Advantages for the new runway just might out-way GreenPeace’s cons, since the project may open up thousands of jobs and save the British economy over $10 billion. Constructing the new runway would allow for another 125,000 flights-a-year in and out of the airport. The airport currently serves approximately 67 million passengers a year.
The German court approved Frankfurt am Main’s (FRA) new runway expansion project – the airport’s fourth runway. Evidently Frankfurt is not too far behind London’s Heathrow, since it is the eighth busiest (Heathrow is third) by passenger traffic, serving over 54 million passengers in 2007. I’m sure Frankfurt wouldn’t mind stealing some of the traffic.
Image: stock.xchng
