Heathrow Expansion: Opposition and supporters get vocal during May

May has seen some of the most vocal behaviour from both sides of the Heathrow expansion fence since the government agreed to support the plans in January. The debate became heated during a month in which UK airport travel figures reported a significant fall in numbers, averaging 7.3 percent across the country and a 3.9 percent fall for Heathrow itself. But does the recession look to halt any of BAA’splans?

On Saturday 16th May Heathrow was subjected to a “Euro Flashmob” in which expansion protestors arrived at the airport adorned in fancy dress singing popular Eurovision hits, such as Just a Little Bit by Gina G and Congratulations by Cliff Richard. With the protest tied in with the Eurovision Song Contest, the flash mob was orchestrated by the HACAN group via the website euroflashmob.eu.


However, later in the month also saw a considerable backlash against these protests from numerous significant companies and businesses in the UK press (telegraph.co.uk). BT, Diageo and Tate & Lyle all stated their support of the expansion and new runway. Paul Walsh, from Diageo, said: “A third runway at Heathrow is essential for UK competitiveness, particularly as we strive to meet the challenge and opportunity of the emerging economies of Africa, Asia and Latin America.”

The statement was an intriguing response to the Euro Flashmob. John Stewart, chairman of HACAN, admitted:”This was a fun event with a serious purpose. It showed that the opposition to a third runway will just not go away. But it also showed just how much opposition there is to the growth of airports across Europe. European campaigners gave ‘nul point’ to airport expansion.”

Despite the opposition to the expansion from Europe, as well as the refusal for certain supporters to admit the difficulties presented by ongoing Euro-wide protests, Heathrow’s proven resilience and reputation as the UK air travel hub (as well as boasting other first class facilities such as Heathrow airport parking) during the recession will be nothing but positive. Most other airports (other than Edinburgh) have seen more traffic declines, with Stansted in particular having to cut back on spend and investment making expansion at Heathrow even more essential.