Transport Insights

The government has continued to signal its determination to expand aviation in a climate emergency, even as another analysis casts doubt on plans to expand Heathrow airport.

The Times reports:

Heathrow’s plan for a third runway is impossible to deliver on time, and the project is likely to run into complications including the relocation of several angling lakes, ministers have been told.

A report by the American construction firm Bechtel…

… concluded that Heathrow’s third runway would be possible at the earliest by 2040 — five years after the intended delivery date.

The problem is the scale of works to be done even before construction can begin:

Looking specifically at construction, the report highlighted seven major assets and natural features in the way of the runway which will have to be moved, including rivers, lakes, a substation, railway and an energy waste plant.

The Times notes that Heathrow Airport’s plan also requires moving a section of the M25, which it says can be done without disruption by building the new route “offline”.

But:

The report concluded that, even if everything was done on time and efficiently, all the enabling work to prepare the site for the runway to be built would not be completed until 2036.

On the bright side, the DfT is continuing to greenwash aviation expansion, with:

£219 million to power Britain’s green aviation revolution

Once again, ministers are bunging big business, in the form of British Sugar, millions of pounds of taxpayers money. Why?

SAF is an alternative to fossil jet fuel which reduces greenhouse gas emissions on average by 70% on a lifecycle basis, making it a key technology that will allow UK aviation to grow capacity while meeting its net zero commitments.

In other words, “low carbon” aviation fuels is greenwashing that allows us to have our cake and eat it.