Recent Media
Here are some links to recent stories about developments at Heathrow and other airports.
And remember you can check all stories free on a daily basis by using the service provided by Cogitamus
An investigation by the Sunday Times has found that the airports operator BAA colluded with government officials to “fix” the evidence in favour of a new third runway at Heathrow.
Sunday Times article - The Sunday Times - 9/3/08
An investigation by the Sunday Times has found the airport operator BAA has used an elaborate network of lobbying and PR groups, headed by senior Labour figures with access to the government, to promote its controversial plans for a third Heathrow runway.
Sunday Times article - The Sunday Times - 16/3/08
Click here to see the full links.
The Economist has questioned the value to the economy of Heathrow expansion: Hemmed in at Heathrow - The Economist - 27/3/08
Ian Martin argues that the Government is facing a major rebellion over Heathrow: “There is an anger and a rebellion that runs from ecoco-warriors through to merchant bankers”
Ministers out of touch over Heathrow Airport - The Telegraph - 3/4/08
Passengers merely passing through Heathrow make up over a third of all passengers using the airport. What exactly are they contributing to the economy?
Heathrow transit passengers cost taxman £500m a year in lost revenue - The Times - 14/5/08
Former British Airways Chief Executive Bob Ayling has come out against expansion at Heathrow and has called for fewer flights to use the airport.
Sunday Times - The Sunday Times - 4/5/08
An account of the biggest-ever protest against Heathrow expansion
Heathrow runway: thousands protest - The Sunday Telegraph - 1/6/08
The Government is losing £10 billion a year die to the tax-breaks the aviation industry receives.
Revealed: airlines' £10bn government fuel subsidy - Indy Media - 9/6/08
Conservative leader questions the environmental and economic case for expanding Heathrow
PM faked the case for third runway claims Cameron - The Evening Standard - 16/6/08
I won't back Gordon's great Heathrow con - The Evening Standard - 16/6/08
Cameron queries Heathrow expansion - The FT - 17/6/08
The London Business organisation, London First, argues that a ‘better Heathrow’ is more important than a bigger one
London First calls for Heathrow solutions - The FT - 25/6/08
Britain is stealing the US crown of No 1 climate villain
If it fails to stand up to BAA on Heathrow, Labour will be cast as the enemy in the environmental battle of the decade. This is a truly shaming moment for Gordon Brown's government. On Monday ministers were once more accused of failing to fully assess the environmental impact of a third runway at Heathrow. The Conservative MP for Putney, Justine Greening, argued that the airport operator, BAA, had been too closely involved with the expansion plans, alleging that government collusion had resulted in environmental concerns being ignored. With Ruth Kelly and the Department for Transport seemingly determined to bust the UK's climate-change targets, it now falls to the likes of Greenpeace and Plane Stupid to try to defend them.
Ministers have acknowledged repeatedly that climate change is the greatest threat facing the globe. Gordon Brown himself gave a speech on November 19 last year in which he stated clearly that the ongoing rise in global temperatures should be kept to less than two degrees, and that, in order to achieve this, global emissions would need to start falling within 10 to 15 years. Yet Brown seems to see no inconsistency in demanding global action on climate change while simultaneously expanding the most polluting form of mass transport known to humanity.
View original article - Mark Lynas - The Guardian - 12/3/08
How to escape Heathrow hell
Protesters are lining up on all sides to oppose the expansion of Heathrow airport.
The answer is to be bold and build a new airport to the east, fit for the 21st
century.
The world’s biggest passenger jet will swoop into Heathrow for the first
time on March 18, heralding a new era in air travel. The Airbus A380 is a double-decker
“super-jumbo” ready to fly you to the future – but it will
be landing at an airport mired in the past.
Heathrow, the busiest international airport on the planet, has become a byword for misery and chaos. Last month it was found to have the highest number of flight delays in Europe, with more than a third of aircraft suffering problems.
View original article - The Sunday Times - 2/3/08
Defy the flying monster for once, Brown, and stop this runway
The prime minister should summon his relevant ministers and decide not to proceed with Heathrow’s third runway. As protesters were festooning the Palace of Westminster with banners on Wednesday, Gordon Brown rightly told the Commons that decisions on such matters should be taken in the house and not on its roof.
But he knows that the House of Commons does not take decisions; the government does. His government has acquired a dreadful reputation for not taking them or fudging them or reversing them or just umming and ahing. Now he has an opportunity to bang the table and say, no runway.
View original article - The Sunday Times - 2/3/08
Posh protesters: How the anti-Heathrow Commons invaders included a Baronet's granddaughter and an MP's grandson
Perhaps it was not the most riotous way to celebrate what, in their view, had been a highly successful protest.
Following their release from police custody in the small hours of Thursday morning there was a quiet debriefing drink together, but by mid-afternoon yesterday it was largely back to the day jobs for the "Commons Five" - the group who were arrested after climbing on to the roof of the Palace of Westminster on Wednesday to protest about plans to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
But then this new breed of protester is a world away from the likes of the infamous Swampy, and the usual raggle-taggle of jobless drop-outs that are so often associated with the eco-warrior cause.
View original article - The Daily Mail - 1/3/08
In doomed Heathrow village, activists await fight
Sitting in a wood-beamed pub that would be buried under London Heathrow's proposed
third runway, locals Geraldine Nicholson and Linda McCutcheon say they do not
intend to give up their homes without a fight.
Britain's government, business leaders and airport operator BAA say the world's
busiest international airport must expand or lose out to continental rivals,
damaging the country's economy.
A consultation on the proposed expansion concludes on Wednesday. The government
says the decision to build a third runway has been made in principle and the
consultation relates primarily to the environmental impact.
View original article - The Guardian - 29/2/08
Protesters scale Parliament roof in anti-runway demo
Protesters sparked an embarrassing security alert at the House of Commons by staging a rooftop protest against the expansion of Heathrow airport.
Five members of the anti-aviation group Plane Crazy were arrested after gaining access to the roof of the Palace of Westminster where they unfurled banners attacking the plans for a third runway at the airport.
The protesters said they entered the palace as visitors, and walked on to the roof through an outside door, raising the prospect that a passholder helped them reach sensitive parts of the palace and guided them through the warren of corridors in the building.
View original article - The Independent - 28/2/08
Objectors unite on Heathrow plan
Some 3,000 people attended the rally at Methodist Central Hall. Thousands of residents, politicians and environmentalists have pledged to resist plans to extend Heathrow. Organisers said 3,000 people attended a meeting at Methodist Central Hall in Westminster.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg was among the speakers from all three major political parties who voiced their opposition. He said "no, no, no" to plans for a third runway and a sixth terminal. Earlier, Greenpeace activists staged a protest at the airport.
View original article - The BBC - 26/2/08
Mayor protests against Heathrow Airport expansion
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has said there is no case to be made for expanding Heathrow or any other airport in London or the south east and new runways and more planes would cause more carbon emissions, increasing the threat of catastrophic climate change.
The Mayor spoke while attending a protest at Sipson village in Hillingdon, which would be bulldozed if plans for a third runway are approved. Other protestors included Geraldine Nicholson, chair of the No Third Runway Action Group, Linda McCutcheon from the Harmondsworth and Sipson Residents Association, John Stewart, chair of HACAN ClearSkies and Sipson village residents. Ken Livingstone said: "It is vital that all airport expansion in London and the south east, including Heathrow is halted now as it is completely contrary to the growing evidence on the role of aviation in contributing towards catastrophic climate change.
View original article - Transport Briefing - 19/2/08
Heathrow economic analysis ‘seriously flawed’
Opponents of plans to build a third runway at Heathrow airport claimed on Thursday that the government had based its support for the project on “seriously flawed” economic analysis. A report published by CE Delft, the Dutch consultants, cast doubts on the government estimates that expansion would bring economic benefits totalling £5bn ($9.8bn).
View original article - The Financial Times - 15/2/08
Echo of Concorde heard in fight to justify third Heathrow runway.
The ghost of Concorde has been enlisted to help to justify a third runway at Heathrow and an extra 500 flights a day over London. This will make it much easier to approve the new runway because Concorde was by far the loudest aircraft operating out of Heathrow. One Concorde flight produced as much noise disturbance as 120 Boeing 757s, according to the DfT’s method of calculating noise.
View original article - The Times - 9/11/07
London just doesn’t need a third Heathrow runway.
So why is the Government pushing ahead with a policy that is deeply unpopular with a large section of the capital and which conflicts with its own climate-change commitments? The answer must be that it has failed to do the calculations; that, or it has been bullied by vested interests.
View original article - The Eveing Standard - 14/11/07
Aircraft noise from Heathrow annoys far more residents than previously thought, an independent study has found.
Environmental and residents groups campaigning against the expansion of Heathrow airport claimed on Friday that research commissioned by the government had shown that millions more people were affected by aircraft noise than previously admitted. The number of respondents at least "very annoyed" generally increases in areas above 43 decibels, the study for the Department of Transport found. With current noise restrictions at 57 decibels, noise disturbs two million more people than previously estimated. But aviation minister Jim Fitzpatrick said the figures were not "robust" enough to lead to a change in policy.
View original article - The BBC - 3/11/07
View original article - The Financial Times - 3/11/07
