In a recent article for the Heathrow Villager, Kwasi commented:
Just recently, the question of airport capacity has been in the headlines, and really that's a good thing. Yes, the issue is controversial, but it would be foolish if we didn't start to talk about it. We do need to have a debate.
Passenger demand for London's airports is anticipated to increase from 140 million passengers a year, to 400 million a year by 2050, with demand for air travel to emerging markets like China and India set to double in just twenty years. If we want to do business with the wider world, so important in this day and age, we'll have to come to terms with this relatively quickly. If we don't, it seems likely that our economy, locally and nationally, will suffer. Paris and Frankfurt are already ahead of the game; they have more annual flights to the three largest cities in China than we do.
So what's the solution? Most people are agreed that some expansion in aviation capacity will probably take place. The shape that this takes is, in many ways, the bigger question.
Boris's island airport idea has received a lot of attention. Of course, it makes good press copy. Such a scheme, though, would take a very long time to build and could have damaging knock on effects. Obviously, we wouldn't want jobs being dragged from the local area. Building on the current infrastructure of London's array of existing airports makes more sense. That certainly doesn't mean the government should suddenly build a new runway at a particular location. But these issues, as they affect so many people, should be talked about openly. Majority local opinion needs to shape solutions. Of course, some people will be thinking "I've heard that before." But what if we allowed airport operators to freely and fully negotiate compensation wherever and with whom development unfavourably affected? This might mean that some locations would prove commercially unviable. It could also mean that development might occur in places which may have been previously overlooked.
What is clear is that, for our economy to grow, the aviation industry will have to grow too. There's no getting around that basic fact.