| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:All Day Flights ‘Worse Than Third Runway’ | |
| Posted by: | David Darlow | |
| Date/Time: | 23/10/08 11:57:00 |
| You’ve hit the nail on the head, David. What this is all about is the desire by BAA to make London the premier hub in Europe. They (a Spanish company) will benefit from increased landing fees and shopping revenues; the airlines (many foreign) will benefit from extra passengers. But the cost will be borne by London. No other major city in the world allows heavy aircraft to stream across its heavily populated areas pouring down noise, pollution and danger. So far we’ve been lucky. New York, with high safety standards and few aircraft overflying the city, has had two major disasters in the last 18 years. London has so far had one jet crash into a field in Staines, killing 188, and another near-miss last year when the crew managed to crash land at the airport. It’s surely only a matter of time before West London faces an accident. Heathrow expansion is disguised as a boon to the Britsh economy. But “hub” means an interchange airport for people travelling on to somewhere else. Those people’s feet never touch English soil. Their contribution to the British business is nil. Already 25% of passengers passing through Heathrow are transients. Without them there would be no problem of capacity. |