Heathrow unveils plans for extra 25,000 flights a year in new consultation for expansion
Heathrow Airport has outlined plans to add up to 25,000 flights a year to its schedule before its controversial third runway is built.
A consultation into expansion, released today, unveils plans that would enable the airport to use not just the arrivals runway for landings, but also the departures runway to boost capacity.
The proposal refers to the airport adopting independent parallel approaches (IPA). Heathrow warned that some of the new flight paths could overfly areas that currently are not affected by Heathrow arrivals.
Heathrow would need the approval of the aviation regulator to move to IPA.
"IPA will make us more efficient and more resilient to disruption, reducing the chances of delays for passengers," Heathrow said. "Any airspace changes required would be replaced by our longer-term airspace design, if our third runway is approved."
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The move would also require the cap on 500,000 flights a year to be lifted.
Heathrow is also floating plans to alternate its flight paths to give some residential areas a break from overhead flights but cutting respite over parts of west London.
Emma Gilthorpe, Heathrow’s executive director for expansion, said: “Heathrow’s aim is to design a sustainable, fair and more efficient future airport while connecting the UK to global growth. It is crucial that our plans maximise the benefits of expansion across the country, including for the communities closest to us—and working in partnership with our neighbours is just one way of ensuring they do so. We are committed to delivering expansion responsibly, and we encourage everyone to have their say and take part.”
The plans laid out in the consultation were welcome by Back Heathrow's executive director Parmjit Dhanda, who said the consultation was a "landmark day for the airport" which had "very strong support amongst local residents".
However, John Stewart, chair of anti-expansion group Hacan, said: “A lot of west London will be badly hit by these proposals but there will be many other communities who will be relieved at the prospect of all-day flying coming to an end. It amounts to a near-revolution to Heathrow's flight paths.”