Sir, Your leader (Sept 3) is mistaken to say that Britain needs extra airport capacity. The Department for Transport released its statistics for air traffic at UK airports on July 31, 2014: since 2007, when aircraft landings and take-offs peaked, movements have decreased by 14.6 per cent from 2,379,000 to 2,031,000 in 2013.
Although usage records may have been set at Heathrow and Gatwick in July this year, there is ample runway capacity in the UK as a whole. The trend to bigger aircraft reduces runway use per passenger, while more fuel efficient aircraft allow long-haul overflying of hubs to avoid landing charges and excessive fuel use when landing and taking off. There is no need for any more runways, let alone a new hub in the Thames estuary.
John Busby
Lawshall, Suffolk
Sir, Your leader overlooks the environmental devastation that would follow if “Boris Island” went ahead. The Airports Commission’s environmental report showed the ruinous effects on wildlife and it is unclear if compensation for lost habitats would be possible. It also ignores the fact that a four-runway estuary airport would be completely incompatible with meeting our climate change emission commitments, which was rightly recognised by the commission.
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Although the commission does consider one new runway to be compatible with climate requirements, this would mean restricting regional airports or other sectors of our economy making even deeper cuts. There is no need for new runways — London’s airports already have spare capacity, the airlines have the ability to swap slots to serve new destinations, and the capital has more flights to the key business destinations than its EU rivals.
Jenny Bates
Friends of the Earth, London SW9
Sir, Does Sir Howard Davies really think that the health and wellbeing of “wildlife” in the Thames estuary is more important than that of human beings who live close to Heathrow?
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Ann Hayward
London SW14
Sir, Your leader claims that a third runway would be full no sooner than it had been built, and that it would be unable to match Paris, Frankfurt or Amsterdam in capacity. In fact, the 740,000 flights that an expanded Heathrow would deliver would provide sufficient capacity until at least 2040. It would also compare favourably with other hubs in Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam, which have capacity for about 700,000 flights a year.
Clare Harbord
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Director of corporate affairs, Heathrow