HEATHROW represents the best and worst of Britain’s economy.
Finally going ahead with its expansion is a big test of this Government’s commitment to growth. From the 1970s through to 2014, Heathrow was the world’s largest airport by international passenger traffic, and it remains – for now – Europe’s biggest.
We should be proud that millions of people around the world choose to fly via London, bringing in billions of pounds of revenue, jobs in UK airlines, aerospace and hospitality, and tax receipts to pay for public services.
Britain boasts an enviable location between Europe and the US, and Heathrow connects us to 218 global destinations.
But for many of us, Heathrow is primarily associated with stress, delay and lost baggage. The airport is stretched to capacity, more than any other airport in the world, with one take-off and landing every minute.
Anyone who has recently travelled through Heathrow will understand the need for a new runway, terminals and transport links.
Many British travellers understandably choose to connect via Amsterdam, Frankfurt or even Dubai – directly subsidising foreign economies – because Heathrow is constrained by its capacity, and has the world’s highest landing charges.
Heathrow also exposes something more fundamental about Britain’s economic stagnation: our inability to build things.
While other countries have invested in their transport infrastructure, we have allowed ours to decay, creaking at the edges under increasing levels of demand. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has six runways, Frankfurt and Paris have four apiece, and even Istanbul has five.
Building a third runway at Heathrow was first proposed in 2003, since which successive governments dithered and delayed. In giving the go-ahead to expansion, the Chancellor hopes to succeed where others have failed.
The Government is right to “back the builders, not the blockers”, especially when this comes at no cost to the taxpayer. The new runway will be entirely privately financed, and will generate revenue for the public purse.
The economic case for expansion is clear. In the short run, expanding Heathrow sends a signal to investors that the government is willing to make politically difficult decisions for the sake of growth.
Construction should begin in the next couple of years, creating jobs and demand for steel, concrete and components from across the UK.
We estimate that a new runway will save the average family £160 each year on their holidays, through more competition between airlines and cheaper landing slots.
But the economic benefit reaches beyond flying, and extends across the UK.
This includes Rolls-Royce engine manufacturing in Derby and Lancashire, Airbus wing production in North Wales, freight and logistics in the M4 corridor and sustainable aviation fuel development in Sheffield and Scotland.
Regional airports will also benefit from increased connectivity to Heathrow. Despite predictions, demand for hub flying has increased, not decreased.
Expanding Heathrow would make the UK a more attractive destination for the leading industries of the future, like the groundbreaking field of personalised medicine, the revolutionary realm of AI-driven drug discovery, and our world-beating quantum computing sector.
Even the burgeoning space tech industry, with its satellites and advanced materials development, relies on swift and secure global transport links.
These sectors depend on seamless global connectivity, and without the capacity to efficiently move goods, specialists, and vital data, we risk losing our competitive advantage.
Environmentalists will rightly ask how Heathrow expansion can be made compatible with the UK’s climate commitments. Air travel is a significant source of emissions and will eat into the UK’s Net Zero carbon budget.
However there are some reasons for cautious optimism: the UK is a world leader in sustainable aviation fuel, and by 2040 will require 22% of aviation fuel to be sustainable.
More capacity at Heathrow enables more direct alternatives to indirect, carbon-intensive flights to East Asia via Dubai or Doha. Engines are already 15% more fuel efficient than they were when a third runway was first mooted, and this improvement is likely to continue.
Expansion will also enable much needed reforms to flight paths, which could be designed to reduce flying directly over London, alleviating concerns about noise and air pollution.
It is an opportunity to show the world, at a time of populist division and economic instability, that sustainable growth is possible, through technological innovation – in engine design, aerospace, and through proper regulation.
The biggest problem facing the UK, and indeed most western countries, is economic stagnation. Solving this will require learning how to build things again.
We built world-changing infrastructure to power the first Industrial Revolution. It’s time to give Heathrow the green light and let Britain fly.
David Lawrence is co-director of UK Day One, a think tank which produces policies for growth and progress for the new government