The Great London Airport Debate

If you’re visiting the UK and entering at London Gatwick or just returning from holiday, you may hear your Gatwick Airport taxi driver talking about a "new airport". If you’ve not been following the news in detail, here’s a quick summary to get you in the loop.

The Gatwick Airport taxi driver and airport debate

London has, arguably, one major hub international airport at Heathrow. The ‘arguably’ here relates to the fact that nobody really disputes that Heathrow is close to bursting in terms of the traffic it handles, and something has to be done to increase capacity or (as some environmentalists wish) reduce demand. That latter seems unlikely.

There are very real problems though with contemplating an expansion at Heathrow, including but not limited to:

• The surrounding areas are very heavily built-up almost to the perimeter in some cases – space for expansion isn’t available without demolishing existing communities.
• Increases in traffic will lead to major environmental impacts over one of the most densely populated parts of the UK.

So, there is a powerful school of thought that says London air traffic capacity should be expanded elsewhere. Now as a typical Gatwick Airport taxi driver might be keen to point out, traffic volumes have also increased hugely in that region. No longer is it largely a package holiday tour charter centre, but a major international hub in its own right, used by many global carriers.

However, it does occupy a less populated location and space there might theoretically be more easily found. On the downside, though, it is surrounded by some now quite rare (in that part of England) open and beautiful countryside, and development here will also prove hugely controversial.

Other contenders for London airport expansion

London also has several other airports that appended the capital’s name as a prefix, with less than obvious justification in some cases, including Luton, Stansted and Southend. In theory, these could all be candidates for expansion to help cope with the increased traffic. Some groups also favour building an entirely new airport in the waters of the Thames estuary – an idea that has been regularly floated (no pun intended) for at least 45 years. It was even tentatively named ‘London Foulness’ after the local area’s name, though for semantic reasons, that provisional tag hasn’t been used much in the debates of recent decades. Typically though, most informed commentators believe that there are only two real contenders for large-scale expansion, Heathrow and Gatwick. Airport taxi drivers have waded into the debate wholeheartedly as you may soon discover!

Current Status

The problem for successive British governments has been an intractable one. It seems inevitable that whatever decision is made, including even a ‘do nothing’ one, a substantial number of people are going to be seriously unhappy. So, it’s a political hot potato. Numerous reports have been published after expensive and extended studies. Unfortunately, though, even after decades of non-stop talking and analysis, no firm decision or even an unambiguous recommendation has been made. When one has appeared close, people have stepped in to overrule some of the assumptions behind it.

Many people are baffled and disenchanted with the uncertainty and apparent vacillation here and claim it is affecting London’s business hub status. You can be fairly sure that your Gatwick Airport taxi driver will have some strong opinions on the subject – one way or another, and it's certainly an interesting debate to join.

Lukas Johannes is a driver for Shuttle Direct. If you’re looking for a Gatwick airport taxi, Shuttle Direct provide pre-booked shuttles to major destinations all over Europe. Wherever you travel, Shuttle Direct can make sure that you don’t miss your car on your holiday abroad.