Each year, London's Heathrow International Airport handles 471,000 aircraft movements and attends to the needs of 63.7 million passengers.
Since its opening in 1946, it has served as one of the worlds largest and busiest airports, and is currently used by around 90 different airlines.
Over the last few years, there has been much controversy and debate over whether a thrid runway should be built at the site just outside London, to help the airport cope with the increasing amount of flights that it deals with each year.
The Advantages of a Third Runway at Heathrow
- It has been projected that, in the next 20 years, that air passengers will double, and Heathrow, which is the world's busiest airport is already operating at its maximum capacity.
- Most other major international airports, have at least three runways. The extension would put Heathrow on a par with the other major airports such as Charles de Gaulle in France, Schiphol in the Netherlands and Frankfurt airport in Germany.
- The third runway means that Heathrow may have to deal with 220,000 more flights each year, but these extra flights mean an extra £9 billion would be contributed to the UK economy.
- The building of another runway is a huge construction product that will create thousands of new jobs and there will be more jobs created once the runway is actually completed.
- Many people have been worried about the increased noise levels that the extra flights will causes, but, by 2020 when the runway will become operational, quieter plans will have been developed.
The Disadvantages of a Third Runway at Heathrow
- With the increased threat of climate change and global warming, it would be carless and immoral to encourage more air travel through the development of a third runway.
- There are already plans for a new airport by the Thames estuary, and if these come into fruition, then there is no need for the Heathrow expansion.
- Much of the public are against the plan and 50 Labour MPs voted against the proposal.
- There is some fear from London resident's of increased chances of terrorist attacks with the increased number of flights the third runway will bring.
- The third runway will cause an increase in pollution and lower the quality of London's air quality, and the Environment Agency believes that the extra nitrogen dioxide may breach EU regulations.
There is equal debate about which decision would be best, both for London and for the rest of the world. It is believed that the British government will go ahead with the plans for the third runway at Heathrow.
Sources:
Pros and Cons of a Third Runway at Heathrow-Thefirstpost.co.uk
Heathrow 3rd Runway Expected-Reuters.com
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