Analysis of the case for Heathrow Airport's Third Runway

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Heathrow’s Third Runway

Introduction: Heathrow Airport

        London Heathrow Airport, also known as Heathrow, is the largest and main airport located in the United Kingdom.  It is the third busiest airport in the world, in number of passengers that take off or land at the airport (Rosenberg 2010).  Having 65.9 million passengers go through the airport last year, Heathrow is also a popular stop for people traveling from the United States to Eastern Europe or Asia and vice versa (Heathrow 2009).  Located near the city of London, Heathrow has two runways with five working terminals.  On January 15, 2009 the British government approved the construction of a third runway and sixth terminal saying “… the move is essential for British business and would retain the airport’s status as a major European hub” (Gray 2009).  However, a little over a year later the project was terminated by the government.

Motivation for the Third Runway

        The main reason that was presented for the expansion of Heathrow was to promote economic growth in the United Kingdom.  Having been in an economic depression, the UK government believed a third runway would help allow for a major economic boost, as it is one of the busiest airports in the world.  Being a main airport hub in Europe, Heathrow wanted a third runway in order to keep its status as one of the major airports.  With only two runways, Heathrow seemed to be falling behind other major airports in Europe with multiple runways.  This provided motivation for airport officials and the government to promote motivation for the building of a third runway.

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Arguments in Favor of the Third Runway

        As said in the previous section, the UK government said that a third runway would provide economic benefits to a recession ridden city.  According to UK officials “a third runway is forecast to create up to 8,000 new on-site jobs by 2030 and will provide further employment benefits to the surrounding area. Its construction alone would provide up to 60,000 jobs” (Hoon 2009).  Also as Heathrow is a major international airport, and is operating at 99% capacity, people and mobile businesses may be turned away from going through Heathrow because of delays and ...

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