Business leaders from 13 major UK companies joined The Co-operative Travel this week in announcing their opposition to the third runway at Heathrow.
In a letter to The Times newspaper, Charles Dunstone of Carphone Warehouse, and Sir Roy Gardner, chairman of Compass, were amongst those who argued that the case for the third runway did “not stack upâ€.
Co-op Travel managing director Mike Greenacres said: “We announced our opposition to the third runway on primarily environmental grounds as part of the launch of our ethical strategy in July 2008, but it is extremely gratifying to see big organisations opposing the runway purely on business grounds.
“With no business case for the third runway, alongside opposition on environmental grounds, we cannot see how this can move forward under current proposals. We urgently ask the Government to reconsider its position on Heathrow so that alternatives can be properly explored quickly and efficiently.â€
The letter from the 13 businesses states: “Alternatives to a third runway have not yet been adequately explored. We cannot accept that the only way to improve the passenger experience of those using Heathrow is to add an extra runway and increase flight numbers massively.
“Additionally, new high-speed rail links directly connecting Heathrow to Scotland via the Midlands and the North of England will also clearly have an enormous impact in releasing significant capacity at Heathrow. All this has yet to be fully understood.â€
By Bev Fearis
