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London Heathrow is already the UK’s biggest airport by quite some margin. Throughout the year it gets nearly 80 million passengers through its doors, nearly double the number of annual customers of Gatwick, the next largest. Apparently, this is not enough. LHR wants more.
Heathrow has been trying to get a third runway for several years now, but it hasn’t really been working out. Some say it would be detrimental to the climate, others that it would impact nearby residents negatively – and the airport is growing impatient. Heathrow CEO Tom Woldbye told the Independent: ‘We are looking at what we can do in the short term with the two runways to increase capacity.’
He added: ‘We will not get more movements, but we will get bigger aircraft.’ He didn't specify how big, what sort, or how many of these larger planes there will be.
But bigger planes would mean more noise and light pollution, which locals will almost certainly not like. Unfortunately, there isn’t much they can do. These monster jets are coming whether you want ’em or not.
Talk of the third runway has also heated back up under a new government, which says it would be open to the idea if it met their environmental guidelines, but nothing’s been signed off yet, so it could be a few years before work begins.
Did you see that the Museum of London has officially changed its name?
Plus: This Victorian pub in south London is being brought back to life.
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