Branson calls for new runway at Heathrow

Richard Branson’s airline called today for the building of a new runway at Heathrow.

Virgin Atlantic Airways, which has 113 flights a week departing from the west London airport, said a new runway was the most “economically viable” option available at an “acceptable” cost to the environment.

It also said that in the short term it wanted to see the use of Heathrow’s two existing runways change to “mixed-mode” use – so that flights could constantly take off and land on both strips.

The company – responding to the Government’s consultation on expanding airport capacity in the South East – dismissed plans for a huge expansion of Stansted in Essex and a new airport on marshland at Cliffe in north Kent.

It called for the “earliest possible” development of a second runway at Gatwick, where Virgin currently runs 45 flights a week.

A spokesman said: “The construction of Cliffe and possibly of a mega-Stansted would do more harm to the environment than the development of Heathrow, Gatwick and more restrained development of Stansted.”

He added that any further additional runway capacity, were it necessary, should only then be considered at either Stansted or Gatwick.

The call from one of the most high-profile airlines operating out of Heathrow comes just days before the British government closes its public consultation on airport expansion.