The long-stalled plan for a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport is still alive, airport officials say, but in their view it is 'long term,' and the near term will require airlines to use bigger planes where possible to squeeze more capacity from the airport, which is the world's fourth busiest.
Heathrow has recently set new passenger-volume records and is the world's busiest two-runway airport. The plan for a third runway was proposed in 2003, approved in 2008 and then put off in 2023 over costs and then-declining passenger projections.
Britain's new Labor government has indicated it would support the proposed work, whose estimated cost is now up to £14 billion, but there is still significant opposition over environmental issues, both related to air travel in general and to the construction work and land acquisition as well, including from some members of the new cabinet.
Airport officials are also calling for modification of rules that will require an Electronic Travel Authorization for transit passengers at Heathrow who are continuing on to other countries and are in the airport only for a couple of hours. They say it will make Heathrow a less desirable hub to fly through compared to European hubs such as Paris or Amsterdam where they would not be needed.
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