Heathrow’s third runway

Hotelier Surinder Arora, has capitulated with his plans for a 2800m third Heathrow runway north of the Bath Road.  No actual reason was given in a surprise short statement.  The airline industry (including British Airways) is sceptical of the very expensive Heathrow PLC scheme, which has the support of the Department for Transport (DfT).

An alternative plan to replicate the Luton Airport runway as Heathrow’s third has been thrown out by the Department for Transport (DfT), claiming that the proposal “does not substantially meet the criteria" for the runway. 

Led by Malcolm Ginsberg, an instigator of London City Airport 40 years ago, a small team of air transport experts submitted a scheme to introduce a new short strip on land north of the present Heathrow concrete, with a targeted completion date of 2031. It is a straight copy of the Luton Airport runway! Ginsberg points out the Consortium’s new runway is environmentally friendly, cheaper and has no impact on the M25. 

“Luton Airport flies to 130 destinations from a runway 2200m in length.  By copying the Luton airstrip, we can creäte a new runway far quicker, much cheaper, and with less inconvenience.   The DfT’s response was abrupt and less than welcoming “We will not be considering your proposal,” it said, “or further proposals!”  

No chance of an appeal then.