London airports to achieve saturation by 2030
29 Aug 2011
The United Kingdom's, department of transport's latest aviation figures predict that the number of passengers using UK airports will soar from 211million per year in 2010 to 335million by 2030, fuelled by an 80 per cent surge in business travel. It also said that the capital's three main airports will be at full capacity within the next 20 years.
By 2030 Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted will not be able to handle any more passengers.
The report comes even as London mayor, Boris Johnson, steps up pressure on the ruling coalition to abandon their opposition to building new runways. The coalition Government has ruled out a third runway at Heathrow.
Daniel Moylan, the deputy chairman of the mayor's transport authority, said the figures were an "urgent wake-up call. Britain is in serious danger of running out of aviation capacity where it is needed. The government has to react with some urgency because 2030 is not far away."
The Department for Transport published forecasts on Thursday in response to a report on aviation emissions by the Committee on Climate Change.
The forecast estimates that by 2030 Heathrow will begin to handle 85 million passengers a year, compared with 65 million now, and that the capital's top five airports, including Luton and London City, would be carrying a maximum of 185 million by 2040.
