The government is preparing to embark no the biggest programme of airport expansion the UK has ever seen.
This could mean untold misery for over 2 million people living under the flight paths of Heathrow, the world’s busiest airport.
In little over a decade, Heathrow’s capacity could double, allowing it to handle over 150m passengers a year (up from 67m in 2007).
This will be achieved by building a third runway, a sixth terminal and allowing more planes to take off and land on each runway.
As a result, communities like the London Borough of Hounslow will have to endure as many as 6,000 extra planes flying overhead every week.
That’s a plane every 30 seconds at peak times.
The never-ending expansion of Heathrow
Timeline | Flights per year | Context |
|---|---|---|
1980s | 285,000 | Limit set at T4 inquiry |
2007 | 471,000 | Current number of flights per year |
2010 | 480,000 | Current limit set at T5 inquiry |
2015 | 540,000 | Predicted capacity with mixed mode |
2020 | 605,000 | Government’s predicted capacity when third runway opens |
2030 | 702,000 | Government’s predicted capacity for Heathrow in 2030 |
2030s | 720,000 | Heathrow’s potential capacity with third runway operating on mixed mode |
2030s | 800,000 | Heathrow’s potential capacity with all three runways operating on mixed mode |