Image via Shutterstock
Heathrow claims to be the only option that can connect every part of the UK to the world’s long-haul growth markets.
The London hub will tell the Airports Commission later this month how new rail and air links will deliver benefits to passengers and business across the UK, not just to London and the southeast.
Stepping up its campaign for expansion over rival Gatwick, the airport will argue that planned new rail connections will mean that more than 70% of the UK’s population will be within three hours of Heathrow by public transport.
Expanding Heathrow will also create capacity for new domestic air routes to destinations that are currently served by competing hub airports in Europe.
Exeter, Liverpool, Newquay, Jersey, Inverness, Isle of Man and Humberside airports could be added to the existing links to Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds/Bradford, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and Aberdeen.
A new fast connection to the proposed High Speed 2 rail line at Old Oak Common in west London means journey times between Heathrow and Birmingham will be cut by 1 hour 38 minutes, journey times to Leeds will reduce by 2 hours 8 minutes, and journey times from Manchester will reduce by 1 hour 53 minutes.
New direct access to the Great Western Line will cut journey times from Cardiff by 37 minutes.
Passengers will no longer face the inconvenience of having to travel to Heathrow via central London or negotiating the London Underground network with luggage, the airport claims.
By the time a third runway opens, the major public transport improvements that will have been delivered include Crossrail, an upgrade to the Piccadilly Line, Western Rail Access, High Speed 2 and Southern Rail Access.
Heathrow says its share of public transport access is expected to rise from 40% to more than 50%.
Since the previous plan for a third runway was rejected, Heathrow has been meeting with business groups across the UK to listen to their views on aviation.
The “resounding demand” is for better regional connectivity to the UK’s hub airport so that companies across all regions are in better reach of global markets.
Heathrow chief executive Colin Matthews said: “If we want growth for the future we need connections to the world’s fast growing markets and that means a hub airport like Heathrow.
“But we also need to bring the benefits of additional trade, tourism and economic growth to the whole country, not just to London and the South-East. That is why we are setting out our ambition to connect Heathrow to every economic centre in Britain.
“New air and rail links including HS2, Western Rail, Southern Rail and Crossrail will transform journey times from Heathrow compared to today. Millions more people will have quick access to the UK’s global hub and be within easy reach of the world’s markets.”
Campaign group HACAN, which opposes Heathrow expansion, claimed the airport’s owners have missed the point by claiming that new rail links will give it the best connections of any airport in the UK to all areas of the country, including the regions.
HACAN chairman John Stewart said: “Heathrow may well become the best-connected airport in the country but today’s announcement misses the real point.
“All the rail and road links will struggle to cope with the extra number of passengers that will use Heathrow if a third runway is build.
“A new runway would mean another 260,000 or so flights a year. Today’s announcement by the airport misses the real point. It is a half-truth”