BAA to give up on third Heathrow runway

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 11 Oct 2009, 19:53

Surprise surprise: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 869676.ece

Vortex · Post by **Vortex** » 11 Oct 2009, 20:10

Brilliant news!

(Post maybe should be in NEWS section?)

Post by **clv101** » 11 Oct 2009, 20:18

Growth in air traffic is certain to stop before any third runaway gets built making it obsolete before the cement sets. Maybe BAA now realise this? Remember last week's Oil Depletion report from UKERC: http://www.ukerc.ac.uk/support/tiki-ind ... +Depletion

This is yet another thing the 'peakers' called years ago. Here's an article I wrote in March 2006 on the subject:

The Millennium Dome is often described as a white elephant, that’s nothing compared with the acres of empty tarmac we’ll have if these plans are pursued. It is clear that the forecasted traffic growth in the white paper is wrong. This should be highlighted and the government retract this forecast so we can stop wasting time and money on building things that don’t have a future.

The current position of justifying airport expansion on the basis of cheap oil is indefensible.

http://europe.theoildrum.com/story/2006/3/22/16810/5536

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 11 Oct 2009, 22:16

Bizarrely the runway wouldn't have enabled an increase in traffic (says some chap who knows about take-off distance spacing and the like) so I really wonder why on earth they wanted it to start with.

madibe · Post by **madibe** » 11 Oct 2009, 23:48

I really wonder why on earth they wanted it to start with

more investment, jobs, franshises, military uses, etc... perhaps?

Post by **adam2** » 12 Oct 2009, 10:35

Great news indeed, but remembering that people will still wish to travel, I hope that they get a move on regarding new or upgraded railway lines.

As has been widely reported, many short haul air trips could be replaced by rail, therefore longer trains will be required at the very least, and probably additional lines as well.

Post by **clv101** » 12 Oct 2009, 11:09

adam2 wrote:Great news indeed, but remembering that people will still wish to travel...

In the same way people wish to drive Ferraris? I don't think people need to travel anything like as much as they do. Can we scale back national person-miles to 1990 levels? With the decrease in heavy industry, increase in service sector, increase in telecoms etc... we should be able to run an economy on a lot less person-miles than we do now.

Post by **adam2** » 27 Jan 2010, 11:07

Aditional decline in air travel, good news IMHO
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8482654.stm

stumuzz · Post by **stumuzz** » 27 Jan 2010, 12:23

My local teeny weeny airport ( built at huge expense for the politicians to commute to the assembly) looks like the only service it offers is about to bite the bullet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/8478725.stm

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 27 Jan 2010, 17:14

Shurely "bite the dust" _ed.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 28 Jan 2010, 11:36

This should be in the Positive Room...

Totally_Baffled · Post by **Totally_Baffled** » 28 Jan 2010, 20:06

At last some good news!

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 28 Jan 2010, 21:40

Airplot seem to think they haven't given up yet

We want to see how we could fortify the Airplot so that, if the police and the bulldozers come to turf us out, we'll be able to physically block the construction of a new runway. Hopefully it will never come to that, because there's no way a new government can continue to support the runway plans, but we want to be prepared.

So we're running not one but two competitions. One is for architects and architecture students to come up with some practical solutions for how we can defend the land, and the other is open to everyone to let their imaginations off the leash. We want to make sure we get the best ideas out there so whether it's a tower, a tunnel or a bouncy castle, get sketching.

Looks like fun

fifthcolumn · Post by **fifthcolumn** » 10 Feb 2010, 21:54

Course I'm willing to bet hard cash that although airtravel may take a dump, foreign holidays won't.

I reckon we'll see the likes of RyanCruise and EasyCruise replacing their namesakes to take holidaymakers to the costas.