Heathrow given clearance for third runway

Britain's Supreme Court has approved Heathrow Airport's plan to expand with a third runway.

Britain’s top court has given the go-ahead to the expansion of London’s Heathrow Airport, allowing the £14bn (€15.4bn) plan to proceed after decades of legal battles and political wrangling.

The UK’s Supreme Court ruling overturned a previous court decision that had blocked the plan on environmental grounds.

Heathrow, Britain’s biggest airport, currently has only two runways and is keen to proceed despite the plunge in air traffic during the Covid-19 pandemic that has seen it lose its crown as the busiest hub in Europe.

British prime minister Boris Johnson has been a vociferous opponent of the expansion, which was approved under the country’s previous government. As mayor of London, he said in 2015 he would lie down in front of bulldozers if necessary to stop construction of the third runway.

His spokesman said the British government had noted the court’s judgment and would respond in due course.

In February, a court had declared the expansion unlawful, ruling in favour of climate change campaigners. The judge had said that a failure to take into account the British government’s commitments on climate change was “legally fatal” to the plans.

But a Supreme Court judge told a virtual session that the government had taken climate change commitments into account when designing its airport policy.

“For these reasons, the Court unanimously concludes that the appeal should be allowed. The airports national policy statement is lawful,” Judge Philip Sales said.

Since February, the aviation sector has been hit by its worst ever downturn, meaning Heathrow now has plenty of spare capacity, but the airport said another runway was still vital for the future.

“Demand for aviation will recover from Covid-19, and the additional capacity at an expanded Heathrow will allow Britain as a sovereign nation to compete for trade and win against our rivals in France and Germany,” a Heathrow spokesman said.

Heathrow and its supporters argue that Britain’s departure from the EU makes expansion critical to ensuring the country can increase trade with the rest of the world. The new runway won’t be opened until the 2030s, Heathrow has said.

The airport is owned by Spain’s Ferrovial, the Qatar Investment Authority and China Investment Corporation, among others.

Though it is Britain’s biggest airport by value, its two runways compare with Paris’s and Frankfurt’s four and Amsterdam’s six. Before the pandemic, it had no space to add new flights.

Reuters