London Heathrow, one of Europe’s busiest airports, has been forced to delay the construction of its third runway after the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) rejected its spending plan.
The airport is to delay construction by “at least 12 months” after Heathrow Airport requested an increase in budget, from £650 million to £2.4 billion.
Worth noting is that Heathrow Airport has not even begun construction of its third runway. With the new delay, completion is set for 2028 or 2029.
"Passengers cannot be expected to bear the risk of Heathrow Airport Limited spending too much in the early phases of development, should planning permission not be granted." - Paul Smith, CAA’s Group Director of Consumers and Markets.
Heathrow Airport has been operating at 98% capacity for over a decade. With only two runways, Heathrow’s Air Traffic Control are struggling to cope with the 1300 daily aircraft movements.
The airport handled 80 million passengers last year but the lack of capacity has limited the airport’s ability to offer new routes to growing economies in Asia and the Americas for example.
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