Government unveils plans for Heathrow Airport expansion

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly has unveiled proposals for a third runway and a sixth terminal at Heathrow Airport.   Announcing options for consultation, Kelly said any expansion detailed in its Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport report must meet “noise and pollution tests”.   Among options to be considered are a 2,200m third runway built north of Heathrow by 2020, and a sixth terminal, which will require the destruction of the entire village of Sipson.   The two existing runways could also be used for both take-off and landings, rather than the current alternation method, which would allow up to 540,000 flights a year before the new runway is built.   Mayor of London Ken Livingstone immediately slated the proposed extension. “Let me make myself absolutely clear,” Livingstone said: “I am firmly opposed to this expansion of Heathrow Airport as it runs contrary to all the growing evidence we now have on the impact of aviation on climate change.         “The Government will need to demonstrate why demand for such trips couldn’t be better met by investing in rail infrastructure, and if this happened why additional runway capacity would still be needed.”    London First, the business lobbying group for the capital, backed the expansion which it said was “critical to UK competitiveness” but warned the proposals must address environmental costs.   Baroness Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First, said: “London’s business leaders have a highly responsible approach to the local and global environmental implications of aviation. They would make Heathrow expansion conditional on facing up to those implications.”   paul.norman@rbi.co.uk