Never mind a third runway – what Heathrow needs is managed decline | Simon Jenkins

If more capacity were vital, the market would have spoken. So let's discourage these polluting flights and spend the money on roads and trains instead

Never take a fact from a lobbyist. Heathrow runways have nothing to do with "vital British business". The idea that spending a staggering 18bn on one runway is economically essential is ludicrous. The economy has far more need of better roads to ports, more commuter trains or cheaper electricity. That they lack the glamour of an airport should not be the issue.

A full 80% of London's airport capacity serves one industry: foreign leisure travel. That industry is, overwhelmingly, Britons going abroad, and is thus negative to the balance of payments. Business export travel is a trivial part of the sum.

Continue reading...