Expanding London airports will help growth take off
Extra runways at Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton are not just lucrative transport infrastructure projects that will create construction jobs and supply chain benefits in the short-term. They are key to getting overseas visitors into the UK to spend money, says Alex Challoner
The summer holidays are upon us. Chances are, at some time in the next few weeks you are going to be spending some time in one of the airports serving the capital. Even if you are not fated to be enjoying a break somewhere warm with your family, maybe you will be travelling for work. Or visiting relatives that are based abroad. According to the Office of National Statistics, during the summer of 2023 some 28.3m Britons travelled abroad, spending £24.5bn in the process. Heading in the other direction, some 10.9m overseas residents visited the UK, spending £10.1bn. Whichever way you look at it, our airports are big business.
So it should be good news that so many London airports want to expand their facilities, serve a wider array of destinations and carry more passengers. The best-known examples are obviously the extra runways wanted at Heathrow and Gatwick. But there is also Stansted’s £1.1bn plan for a 33 per cent terminal extension to boost passenger capacity to 51m by 2041. London Luton Airport is also planning an extra terminal. London City Airport plans to increase its annual capacity from 6.5m to 9m by 2031 by offering more flights at weekends and handling larger aircraft.
If you want economic growth – and we have to assume that the government has not given up on this entirely – then here it is. Aviation was estimated to be worth £14bn to the UK economy in 2023. Around 75 per cent of UK long-haul flights depart from Heathrow and, just as importantly, 60 per cent of UK airfreight goes through the airport. Heathrow Airport Limited estimates that a third runway alone will grow UK GDP by 17.1bn annually (with 60 per cent of that benefit likely to be felt outside the South East). It will boost trade by £150bn a year and support 60,000 new local jobs.
Nimbys, flight path malcontents and eco loons
And yet airport expansion across the South East is not just opposed by the ‘usual suspects’ – Nimbys, flight path malcontents and eco loons – but by a disturbing number of politicians too. A number of London Labour MPs recently lobbied new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to cancel Heathrow expansion. Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee has warned that airport expansion could put the UK’s net zero ambitions in “serious jeopardy”. The London Assembly’s Leonie Cooper has warned about the noise and pollution impacts of a busier London City Airport. And the Mayor of London’s latest London Plan reiterates his opposition to expansion.
So far, the Government has stood firm on airport expansion. Andy Burnham must continue to do so. Extra runways at Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton are not just lucrative transport infrastructure projects that will create construction jobs and supply chain benefits in the short-term. They are key to getting overseas visitors into the UK to spend money. They are vital for increasing the flow of goods we export via air freight and allowing UK businesses to access foreign markets. The UK urgently needs bigger, better and busier airports. Will our new political masters have the courage to deliver?
Alex Challoner is director at London Vision Network and former prospective Conservative mayoral candidate