[Anonymous]

[TerryMcManus24]

Are we still talking about a little expansion at Heathrow?…
Boris …wheres Boris……6 Runways…. minimum…….

New Beijing Airport gets GO ahead…with 6 Runways…and will take 5 years to build

Chinese leaders have given final approval for a long-awaited new $11.2 billion international airport in Beijing to ease crushing congestion at the existing facility, official media said on Monday.

. Chinese leaders have given final approval for a new $11.2 billion international airport in Beijing to ease congestion at the existing facility, official media said on Monday.

The huge new airport south of the capital will have six runways for civilian aircraft and a seventh for military use, the China Daily said, citing CAAC News, a paper linked to the country’s civil aviation administration.

Beijing Capital International Airport, north of the city, has been ranked as the world’s second busiest airport for three years, handling 81.8 million passenger movements in 2012, the China Daily noted.

“The plan for a new airport has been approved by the State Council (China’s cabinet),” it quoted a Beijing aviation spokesman as saying. No official confirmation was immediately available.

Reports said the new airport was scheduled to open by the end of 2018 and have a capacity of 70 million passengers a year by 2025.

A new airport would put Beijing alongside the likes of New York, London, Paris and Tokyo as cities with more than one major facility

http://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/travel-update/330756/china-approves-second-beijing-airport-state-media

[FormerlyDoS]

Don’t worry, Willie Walsh is standing firm and opposing plans for a new London airport.

Way to go, Willie, nice to see a man of vision at the top.

[scott66]

Wow!!! The current airport and terminals are practically brand new, the obvious comparison with the London mess has already started. Even if the UK government make up their mind where to put the third runway/new island, it will still take a further twenty years of bleating by environmentalists and Nimbys before the diggers role in. Hat’s off to China, they’ve seen a problem and they’re dealing with it.

[ImissConcorde]

Bless you, DOS! You see what you want to see re Willie Walsh. What was reported (Dec 2012) was ” The head of the International Airlines Group, British Airways’ parent company, has become the most senior figure to voice doubts about whether Heathrow will ever be expanded” I’m interested to know how “voiced doubts” becomes “opposing plans” in your book??

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/9717087/Willie-Walsh-rules-out-third-runway-at-Heathrow.html

[CityRiskBoy]

Our government havent got a clue….they dilly dally around for about 15 years and then POW…..They realise its too late and say it should have been done years ago…..They are useless!

[BeckyBoop]

$11.2 billion and 5 years to build!!! Give that option to the UK govt and is will go through without any fuss.

Problem with the Thames Hub is will cost £50 billion and take over ten years to build.

FDOS, Walsh is totally for expansion and especially in the south of England. He knows the Thames hub is technically feasibly however there is still a flaw in the business case in terms of the cost of the project not just the build but also the running cost and only work if they would have to force carriers to fly to the Thames hub by closing all other London airports. He is strongly in favour for Heathrow expansion as he feels it’s in the national interests of the not only the country but also other airlines. If a third runway is built most of the slots will go to competing airlines and not BA. The person to blame is Cameron not Walsh!!

[CityRiskBoy]

Cameron and the government is to blame….even if labour were in power it would be the same story…..no one in govt wants to make a decision…they worry too much about what the “do gooders” will say!…..its not hard…LHR needs another runway…JUST BUILD IT! whats the problem!!!….Any other country would have started work on it by now and it would be finished in a couple of years….instead we will probably still be in the same position in 5 years time all the while the UK economy will suffer.

[FormerlyDoS]

IMissConcorde

Look at para 6 of the link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19577410

Seems pretty anti to me, then there is this article, if you prefer the Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/9023843/BAs-Willie-Walsh-says-he-will-not-be-checking-in-at-Boris-Island.html

[FormerlyDoS]

BB

Walsh’s interest is in remaining at Heathrow as the dominant party and this makes pragmatic sense when you consider his job role. Why did IAG buy bmi?

He probably also has waking nightmares about the IR implications of moving his staff, given recent HR issues.

As for him supporting expansion in the SE generally, I think not, see his negative thoughts about Gatwick.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/dec/04/no-case-gatwick-expansion-willie-walsh

[FormerlyDoS]

“JUST BUILD IT! whats the problem!!!”

The planning and appeals process, that’s the problem. Injunctions would fly left right and centre and work would grind to a halt.

[FormerlyDoS]

“Our government havent got a clue….they dilly dally around for about 15 years “

This is the root cause of today’s woes, I agree.

The UK governments in my lifetime have not focused enough on strategic infrastructure.

[BeckyBoop]

Why do I get the feeling making a decision of this magnitude is not as easy as one might think…..

FDOS, The BMI purchase was there to help secure growth. You forget LHR is currently the worlds no 1 international hub. As for LGW it is a cheaper airport to run from than LHR however there is more demand from carriers to operate from LHR than LGW. I can’t comment on the IR issues for the company that’s one for VK. I think you need to run for Prime Minister!!

[AnthonyDunn]

@CityRiskBoy – 15/01/2013 10:10 GMT

its not hard…LHR needs another runway…JUST BUILD IT! whats the problem!!!….

Heaven help us from such idiotic comments. Which runway and where? Do you not understand the site constraints around Heathrow? You clearly don’t live under the existing 04:15-23:00 flight paths which affect literally millions of residents in west, south-west and north-west London. Which is why some of us continue to press for a substantial multi-runway airport to be built in a location which would permit 24/7 operations that did not impact detrimentally on millions. This would also enable UK carriers to take back lots of the UK regional feeder traffic that the likes of KL, AF and LH have enjoyed for far too long.

A mooted £11.5Bn price tag and five year construction programme owes itself to the fact that the Communist party will simply expropriate the land at minimal cost and there will be NO planning process to go through. This is because in China individual property rights are null and void should the Communist party decide that they want to do something. Or is this what you propose for the UK? And would you and yours be happy to be uprooted at little notice and with almost no compensation? Ah, I thought not.

Yes, decisions need to be taken but ones preferably based upon analysis and reason rather than Daily Mail style gut feeling and knee-jerk responses.

[FormerlyDoS]

BB

I think you need to brush up on your facts, Heathrow handles the 3rd largest amount of passengers of any international airport, but is not in the top ten for either aircraft movements (which is the constraint at LHR) or freight/mail (which is very significant as a profit centre.)

You cannot state that “You forget LHR is currently the worlds no 1 international hub” based on those stats.

Here is the source data

http://www.aci.aero/News/Releases/Most-Recent/2012/08/27/ACI-Releases-its-2011-World-Airport-Traffic-Report-Airport-Passenger-Traffic-Remains-Strong-as-Cargo-Traffic-Weakens

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