Would a new Thames Estuary airport be the best option for the whole UK?
Daniel Moylan, the mayor of London’s chief aviation adviser, says Yes.
For most UK regions, Heathrow is already supplanted by Amsterdam Schiphol as the principal hub airport. In 1990, 18 UK cities had daily flight connections to Heathrow. That has fallen to seven today.
Some say another Heathrow runway would bring better connectivity between London and the rest of the UK. But that assumes the new runway wouldn’t fill up with long-haul flights, keeping regional connections out.
If the UK’s regions are to prosper, they need access to an airport with enough capacity, something only a new four-runway hub near London can provide. Unless the Airports Commission grasps this, it risks turning its back on UK businesses that are being denied swift links to London and growth markets abroad.
It would put at risk the billions of pounds and thousands of jobs those links would provide. Only a new four-runway hub airport near the capital has the capacity to connect each nation and region of the UK to London and the rest of the world.
Jock Lowe, director of Runway Innovations and Heathrow Hub, says No.