US lessor Air Lease’s chief executive, Steven Udvar-Hazy, has lamented the capacity strain at London’s airport, describing the situation as “shameful”.
Speaking during an event at the Aviation Club in central London on 18 September, Udvar-Hazy pointed out that London was the world’s largest international air hub.
But London Heathrow has just two runways, Gatwick has one – plus a taxiway which can serve as a runway – and Stansted and Luton have one each.
“So here you have a major metropolitan complex, a global aviation hub, where you have four airports that have fewer runways than Atlanta or [Dallas-Fort Worth],” says Udvar-Hazy.
“We’ve heard talk about a third runway [at Heathrow] for about three decades. And I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Udvar-Hazy highlighted the rapid expansion of the air transport sector, pointing out that the industry is looking at annual production rates of 1,300-1,500 aircraft.
“I think a lot of us need to have perspective about this,” he says. “Because the [airline] business is going to grow, but the real estate [in London] just isn’t supporting that growth.
“So the growth is going to [happen in] other parts of Europe. I think that’s a big challenge – it’s a shameful situation to look back at the fact that the supporting infrastructure of the UK hasn’t kept up with the demand of the 21 century.”
Two rival proposals have recently been submitted for the expansion of Heathrow, each of which features a third runway – which could be operational in 2035 – as well as new terminal development.
