The TTG@WTM Interview
The Davies dilemma A
The arguments over airport capacity in the south-east rumble on as we await the Davies Commission’s final verdict, due in 2015. Gary Noakes speaks to Heathrow chief executive Colin Matthews ahead of today’s session, Airport Debate: Future Landscapes of Global Hubs
few weeks after WTM ends, a shortlist of options for expanding the London area airport capacity will be
published, reigniting a debate that has seemingly continued for decades. One odds-on bet for the shortlist is of
course Heathrow, where plans for a third runway have been submitted. The airport’s chief executive Colin Matthews must wait until mid-2015 for the final verdict from the enquiry, known as the Davies Commission, but by the time any construction is completed, passengers are likely to have experienced another decade of delays. The reason for such a lengthy process is
that expanding the south-east’s airports is a project no government wants to be responsible for, given the lack of building space in a densely populated region and the environmental concerns it will provoke, hence the current government’s decision to order a three-year review of options. In doing so, it has effectively passed the buck, as no winner will be chosen until after the next general election. Meanwhile, Matthews and the Heathrow
team continue their lobbying. Their submission to the commission this summer is for a full-length runway to the south-west that would expand capacity from 70 million to 130 million by 2029. It will involve the destruction of 850 homes, a third of what would need to be demolished if the previously favoured northern expansion site was chosen. The sticking point may be that almost 1,800 acres to the south-west are classed as ecologically sensitive and there is a reservoir and a motorway to bridge. Matthews, naturally, is convinced that this is the only option for London, because
CV Colin Matthews
2008-PRESENT: Chief executive, Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd 2003-07: Group chief executive, Severn Trent plc 2002-03: Group chief executive, Hays Group plc 2001-02: Executive director, Lattice Group plc 1997–2001: Managing director, BA Engineering, British Airways plc
34 06.11.2013
1988-96: Various roles in London, Paris and Montreal 1985-88: Strategy consultant, Bain & Company 1977-83: Engineering/production roles in UK and Japan
EDUCATED: Cambridge University and INSEAD, Fontainebleu, France NATIONALITY: Canadian and British
Matthews: you need cross-party support to move plans forward
Heathrow is the UK’s only true hub. “If you look around the world, there are six airports with more than 50 long-haul destinations. We have something close to 90 – that is a remarkable thing. Demand is variable. The way airlines manage the peaks and troughs is with transfer traffic – a hub can do that, a non-hub can’t.”
Few alternatives Alternative proposals to Heathrow as a hub now seem to be fading. The idea of an estuary airport admits its main proponent, London Mayor Boris Johnson, may have fallen
by the wayside, not least due to cost. Johnson believes the government and influential organisations like the Confederation of British Industry will always back Heathrow, saying recently “nobody is going to be impressed with any other solution”. “The Mayor argues, similarly to us, that
you can only have one hub; we only differ in where it should be, but an estuary airport is going to be very difficult in terms of cost,” says Matthews. Heathrow estimates its third runway at £14-£18 billion, a fraction of an estuary airport’s estimated £70 billion. Then there is the relocation issue.
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