Topic: | Boris Island | |
Posted by: | Brendan McCarthy | |
Date/Time: | 18/01/12 17:48:00 |
LBI would mean that East London was super-served by an arc of airports from Stansted to Gatwick with LBI and LCY in between. West London and the Thames Valley would have nothing - and with big consequences for the local economy. There are environmental problems about Heathrow, but I suspect that there are many more West Londoners who need the airport to stay where it is than would be relaxed about its closure. There is another consideration. Ferrovial, Heathrow's owners, have private property rights. They would need to be compensated - and with a considerable premium to the value - for any closure. One analyst quoted by the FT reckons a premium of £13 bn. over the asset price. I suspect that the anger of Tory Kent MPs added to that of Tory MPs from the Thames Valley will see this proposal off and that we will be back to a discussion about expanding LHR. I have never completely understood why additional runways must inevitably run E-W, which is why Heathrow expansion is neuralgic for many who live in Chiswick. A Google Earth view of Schipol, for instance (and with similar prevailing winds) suggestions some interesting possibilities for Heathrow. It's worth too looking at Brussels, Copenhagen and Frankfurt |