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Tories took £291,000 from airports lobbying for expansion (www.opendemocracy.net)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Theresa May are among the Conservative MPs who have accepted more than £275,000 in donations-in-kind from airport operators, while Conservative Party HQ has also taken more than £13,500 in donations from airport operators. It comes as the government signals its backing for airport expansions, in contrast with advice from its own climate advisers that adding runways to Heathrow and Gatwick would be incompatible with the UK’s net zero goals.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago (6 children)

Heathrow

googles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathrow_Airport

In 2022, it was the second-busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic and the second busiest airport in Europe.

As the required length for runways has grown, Heathrow now has only two parallel runways running east-west.

https://nats.aero/blog/2021/11/3-2-1-now-the-story-behind-heathrows-parallel-runway-take-off/

Heathrow’s runways are ‘only’ 1,414 metres apart, which is too close to be able to do parallel departures outside of very specific weather and visual conditions.

I'm kind of surprised that Heathrow hasn't been expanded already.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (4 children)

It is surrounded by neighborhoods that don't want any expansion due to noise. The problem is that there isn't any good place to put a new airport except for the Thames Estuary, but that is going to be expensive, impact tidal wetlands, and require additional transit connections to London.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

They should just get it built. This NIMBYism combined with a lack of investment under the Tories is why things only seem to be getting worse in the UK. I lived next to a pub/club, I didn't complain about the noise.