I’m sure there is enough capacity in the SE (and indeed the rest of the country) to cope with all of Britain’s expansion needs. The problem is all this capacity is spread out over a large area (LHR, LGW, STN, LTN etc.).
Passengers don’t want to get a flight to London, then get on 2/3 trains or a coach journey to another airport to continue their travels. They want a seamless connection at a single airport. If UK airlines are to remain appealing and competitive, a single hub has to be established.
Do you really think Emirates would be so popular if all their connecting passengers had to transfer from DXB to AUH?
I was originally against Borris Island, but now I see it as the only viable long term solution. London needs a 21st century hub airport and it needs one now! The problem I have with STN or Manston is, by the time you’ve got them up to (or exceeded) LHR standard in terms of commuter links/infrastructure – you might as well have put that investment into Borris Island and start a new.
Also, another thing that annoys me are the government imposed slot allocation restrictions at LHR. The government’s always telling us to take ‘greener’ modes of transport (such as the train) on short/domestic routes. So it really baffles why the government say x number of LHR slots must be dedicated to domestic flights? If airlines (namely BA) were allowed to freely allocate routes, surely this would ease some of the capacity pressures at LHR and also force more passengers to look at other modes of travel on domestic routes? Kill two birds with one stone… Although, whether BA would in-fact reduce its domestic services if given the choice is a different matter.
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