Howard Davies: Heathrow airport expansion ‘not needed at the moment’
The transport expert whose report gave the green light to Heathrow airport’s runway expansion has said the airport mega-project is currently not needed.
Sir Howard Davies recommended the expansion at the London airport as part of the Airports Commission report published in 2015.
The Covid-19 pandemic since then has led to a collapse in passenger numbers travelling for business or leisure.
It’s a far cry from the situation of full capacity and a fight among airlines for any empty slots at Heathrow which led to Davies’ report finding a third runway was needed.
Yesterday Davies told LBC that Heathrow “would be delighted just to fill the two runways it’s got at the moment”.
A third runway would allow more than 280,000 extra flights per year.
However, even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the huge project was held up in the Commons and then the courts, after recieving backing from Theresa May’s Government in 2016.
The airport has itself admitted the project has fallen down its list of priorities, chief amongst them is recovering from the pandemic.