Aviation: The benefits to expand

Heathrow. Often described as the only building site in the world to have an airport. Or the only shopping mall in the world to have an airport. The source of much derision and the constant source of criticism in the last two weeks. If it wasn’t he happy, clappy anti-aviation brigade (see below), it was every minister, trade spokesman or national newspaper. Heathrow bashing, it seems, is a national sport.

It shouldn’t be, and to be brutally honest, if people had got their acts together we wouldn’t be in this situation. In 2002, the first ground was cut on Europe’s biggest building site – Heathrow Terminal 5 (T5). T5 is massive – the largest freestanding building in the UK and Europe, the size of vast number of football pitches, and a fully integrated transport hub. Only thing was, that when first proposed, T5 was meant to open in 2002. On schedule, on budget and on track to open its boarding gates next March, it will relieve vast pressure on the older facilities in LHR, taking capacity limits to 60m, and allowing Terminals 1 & 2 to be demolished to be replaced by Heathrow East, hopefully ready for the London Olympics in 2012.

So, why did it take so long? Because of NIMBYs. The Not In My Back Yard brigade stalled, and caused endless delays to the whole process, with the longest planning enquiry in British history. And now, we are left with those delays. And now we get the complaints. Its difficult to think, but without Heathrow, London and the UK would be a poorer place. Literally. Heathrow brings in over £5bn directly into the GDP of the UK. It supports over 70000 jobs in the London area, and nearly 500000 jobs across the UK. It provides many communities with their income, and brings direct investment links to the financial heart of the UK.

And this is a bad thing? Most mainstream people don’t see the investment, the income and support to the UK economy as a bad thing. However, there seems to be hardcore element of the populous who don’t get it. They seem to think that Heathrow has sprung up overnight – it hasn’t: it’s been there over 50 years, and plays a crucial role in how diverse, and multi-cultural the UK and London has become. Every day that goes by in the last 10 years, Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam have increased capacity, built new terminals and runways and have eaten into Heathrow’s lead as the most important destination in Europe.

Heathrow needs to be allowed to expand and grow, it needs to be allowed to move forward and improve its facilities. If it isn’t, it isn’t just Heathrow that will suffer, it will be London and the UK which will – and if that happens, the problems will be bigger than anyone will want to know about.