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Other UK airport expansion plans set to be rejected
Other airports face having their expansion plans rejected after the court ruling against Heathrow’s third runway, according to an industry analyst.
Johanna Bonhill-Smith, travel and tourism analyst at GlobalData, said the growing climate change movement is set to undo many aviation growth or expansion strategies for years to come.
"Many airlines were banking on the third runway expansion at Heathrow airport to reach more markets and increase capacity at the UK’s busiest airport, but have now been dealt a major blow as the expansion has been blocked," she said.
She said the decision over Heathrow highlights the intensity of the climate change movement.
"This battle between the airspace industry and environmental enforcements will no doubt be ongoing and the undoing of many growth or expansion strategies for years to come.
"Numerous airports throughout the UK are currently in the process of planning ways to expand in order to increase capacity in both the domestic and international aviation space. However, with the term ‘climate catastrophe’ more widely broadcast than ever, the rise of ‘Flygskam’ and environmental campaigners gaining more traction throughout Europe, the aviation industry is under more intense scrutiny than ever to consider wider environmental impacts.
"Heathrow is not the first expansion project to be rejected in 2020 as found with Bristol Airport and is unlikely to be the last."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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