Why Heathrow needs third runway

[25th June 2008]

In his first major speech as chief executive of airport operator BAA, Colin Matthews has explained why Heathrow needs a third runway.

In his speech to the Transport Times Conference, Matthews acknowledged the disastrous opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow.

“The damage to BAA’s reputation was real - and, while the building today is operating superbly, and, as was originally designed, I have to accept that the road to reputation recovery will be long and hard,” Matthews said.

He added that last month at Heathrow 95% of passengers waited five minutes or less at security queues, which he said was a significant improvement.

But Matthews made it very clear that if Heathrow is to improve in the longer term it desperately needs a third runway.

“Reliability depends on capacity, and on that the figures speak for themselves. Heathrow operates at over 99%. Schiphol, and other European airports, at a maximum of 75%. They have three, four or five runways. We have had two since the Second World War.”

“So, to those who say make Heathrow better, before you make it bigger, I say that is a false choice,” Matthews added. “Of course we can, and are, making our terminals better – and that is why we are planning to spend £4bn at Heathrow in the next five years. But without extra runway capacity, all that means is that passengers will be waiting in nicer looking surroundings. The answer is not either new facilities, or a new runway. It is both.”

Matthews also argued against building a new airport in the Thames estuary. “Of course, there are those who say, blithely, the answer is to move the airport. What they don’t mention is the cost – three, or four times that of a third runway. Or the additional environmental impact.”

“Environment groups say that an estuary airport would be the most destructive development ever undertaken in the UK,” Matthews warned.

Written by: Nick Purdom

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