Heathrow vs Gatwick Airport Expansion

This assignment compares and contrasts the Heathrow and Gatwick airports in terms of their expansion plans, challenges, and economic viability. It highlights the key differences between the two airports, including their number of operating runways and passenger traffic. The report recommends investing in Heathrow airport due to its higher potentiality and economic viability compared to Gatwick airport.

Running head: AIRPORT PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Airport planning and development
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Executive summary
The aim of this report is to compare between Heathrow and Gatwick airport in terms of
passenger traffic and infrastructure. In addition, this report also discussed about the economic
viability of both the airports. After discussing and comparing both the airports, this report
concludes that investing in the Heathrow airport is more viable for the investors compared to the
investment in the Gatwick airport.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Capacity comparison.......................................................................................................................3
Economic potentiality of Heathrow and Gatwick...........................................................................5
Expansion plan.................................................................................................................................6
Challenges in expansion plan..........................................................................................................6
Challenges in expansion of Heathrow airport.............................................................................7
Challenges in expansion of Gatwick airport................................................................................8
Recommended solution...................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Reference.......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Investment in the airport is one of the booming areas in the recent time for the investors.
This is due to the reason that air traffic is rapidly increasing along with the increase in the
number of flights. Thus, the existing airport infrastructure is not enough to meet the growing
demand in air transport sector. More investors are becoming interested in investing in the
development of the airports in order to have favorable long term returns (De Neufville, 2016).
However, in order to have investment, they are in the need of the determination of the current
and future potentiality of the airports.
This report will discuss about Heathrow and Gatwick airport in the United Kingdom in
order to compare both of them to identify the most potential one. Heathrow and Gatwick are the
top two airports in the United Kingdom in terms of the passenger traffic (Jimenez, Claro & de
Sousa, 2014). Thus, both these airports will be compared based on different yardsticks in order to
identify the viable one.
Capacity comparison

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Figure: 1
Passenger traffic trend of Heathrow and Gatwick
Source: (anna.aero, 2018)
According to the reports, the passenger hauling capacity of both the airports is going neck
to neck. According to the above data, annual passenger traffic of both the airports is at same
levels. Thus, hey cannot be differentiated in terms of the passenger traffic. Both are catering to
the similar level of passenger traffic.
Airport traffic Heathrow Gatwick
Annual passengers 2014 (versus 2013) 73.4m (+1.4%) 38.1m (+7.4%)
Number of runways 2 1
Connecting traffic share of total 36.7% 7.3%
Table: 1
Source: (anna.aero, 2018)
However, it should be noted that Gatwick is only having single runway for use, while
Heathrow airport is having two runways. Thus, if the two runways of Heathrow are being taken
in to consideration, then it is much ahead of Gatwick in terms of hauling the passengers and the
grow passenger traffic. As per the above data table, Heathrow is way ahead than Gatwick in
terms of the passenger traffic. The traffic share of Heathrow is nearly 37 percent compared to
mere 7.3 percent of Gatwick.

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Economic potentiality of Heathrow and Gatwick
Figure: 2
Economic viability of Heathrow and Gatwick airports
Source: (Morrison, 2018)
As per the reports, Heathrow is way ahead of Gatwick in terms of the cost and economic
benefits also. This is mainly due to the reason that the size and infrastructure of Heathrow is
much bigger than that of the Gatwick airport. According to the above figure, economic benefit of
Heathrow airport is of £18.6 billion compared to the £9 billion of Gatwick airport. Thus, it can
be concluded that the economic viability of Heathrow airport is much more than that of Gatwick
airport. However, on the other hand, the above figure also shows that the average airport charge
of Gatwick is less compared to the Heathrow airport. Thus, it will have positive impact on the

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customer traffic of Gatwick airport. Having less airport charge will increase the attractiveness
among the potential passengers.
Expansion plan
Both Heathrow and Gatwick airports are having expansion plan in order to cater to the
increased rate of the passenger traffic. As per the reports, Heathrow airport is considering the
construction of third runway (Topham, Mason & Elgot, 2018). The proposed plan will reduce the
pressure from the existing two runways in Heathrow airport. It is also being reported that
expansion of Heathrow airport will attract economic benefits of £61 billion (Topham, Mason &
Elgot, 2018). Thus, the expansion plan of Heathrow airport along with their already established
passenger traffic will be one of the major and attractive investment plans for the investors.
On the other hand, Gatwick airport is also planning to expand their operation by having
one more runway. It is also reported that by 2021, they are planning to invest £1.15 billion. The
investment will not only cover the construction of a new runway but it also covers service
efficiency and building new hangers (Bqlive.co.uk, 2018). Thus, the development will be more
holistic compared to the development plan of Heathrow.
Challenges in expansion plan
Though, both the airports are having huge development and expansion plan, but here will
be various challenges to be faced by them. It is important to determine and identify these
challenges due to the reason that the viability of the investment plan can be determined only by
the extent and intensity of the challenges.

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Challenges in expansion of Heathrow airport
Figure: 3
Intensity of the noise pollution
Source: (www.propertiesforlondon.co.uk, 2018)
Expansion plan of Heathrow airport will attract lawsuits due to the reason that the
construction of the third runway will cause impacted population of an extra 200,000 people. This
population will come under the unacceptable level of noise. This will attract lawsuits from the
leading campaigners and social organizations. This above figure is showing the huge area that
will come under the excessive noise pollution with the construction of the third runway. It is also
reported that apart from the social campaigners, few authorities are also against the move. This
include the Sadiq Khan, mayor of London is opposing the expansion move. Thus, it will much
difficult for Heathrow airport to continue with their expansion plan. Another challenge that will
also emerge is the increase in the level of the air pollution. According to the Greater London

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Authority, having the third runway will breach the limit of the permissible limit of air pollution.
Thus, investment in the Heathrow may attract lawsuits from different parties.
Challenges in expansion of Gatwick airport
Similar to the Heathrow airport, Gatwick will also face different challenges in their
expansion plan. One of the key challenges is the campaigning by Gatwick Area Conservation
Campaign against the runway expansion plan (Gacc.org.uk, 2018). The key reason of their
opposition is also the environmental reasons. According to them, having the extra runway will
cause huge negative impact on the surrounding communities. Thus, it can be concluded that the
key challenges being faced by both the airports are environmental factors only (Yim, Stettler &
Barrett, 2013). However, given the complex legal framework in the United Kingdom, it may be
difficult to continue with the expansion plan against all the opposition.
Recommended solution
Thus, the above discussions, the overview of both the airports are being identified. In
addition, economic viability of both the airports along with their challenges is also being
identified. This report recommends that investing in the Heathrow airport is more promising
compared to the Gatwick airport for investment. This is due to the reason that if the expansion
plans of both the airports are considered scrapped, and then also Heathrow airport is having more
viability than the Gatwick. Heathrow airport is already having better infrastructure compared to
the Gatwick. Moreover, the current passenger traffic also more than that of the Gatwick. Thus, it
is recommended that investment should be made in the Heathrow airport in order to tap the
major opportunity due to having highest number of passenger footfall.

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Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that expansion of airports is having urgent need in order to
manage the increased passenger traffic. On the other hand, there are various challenges being
identified in expanding the airport project. These challenges are mainly the environmental issues.
This report also compared Heathrow and Gatwick airports in terms of their number of operating
runways and the passenger traffic. It is seen that Heathrow airport is way ahead in terms of all
dimensions than the Gatwick airport. This report recommended that investing in the Heathrow
airport will be more viable compared to the investment in the Gatwick airport. This is due to the
reason that economic viability and potentiality of the Heathrow airport is more than that of the
Gatwick airport.

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Reference
Topham, G., Mason, R., & Elgot, J. (2018). Heathrow airport expansion gets government
approval. the Guardian. Retrieved 19 March 2018, from
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/25/heathrow-airport-expansion-gets-
government-approval-gatwick
www.propertiesforlondon.co.uk. (2018). www.propertiesforlondon.co.uk. Retrieved 19 March
2018, from http://www.propertiesforlondon.co.uk/heathrows-potential-noise-pollution-
plan/
De Neufville, R. (2016). Airport systems planning and design. Air Transport Management: An
International Perspective, 61.
Jimenez, E., Claro, J., & de Sousa, J. P. (2014). The airport business in a competitive
environment. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 111, 947-954.
Yim, S. H., Stettler, M. E., & Barrett, S. R. (2013). Air quality and public health impacts of UK
airports. Part II: Impacts and policy assessment. Atmospheric Environment, 67, 184-192.
Morrison, C. (2018). Cityam.com. Cityam.com. Retrieved 19 March 2018, from
http://www.cityam.com/217691/business-groups-slam-delay-over-airports-action
anna.aero. (2018). anna.aero. Retrieved 19 March 2018, from
http://www.anna.aero/2015/01/21/will-heathrow-or-gatwick-get-the-additional-runway-
they-want/

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Bqlive.co.uk. (2018). Bqlive.co.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2018, from
http://www.bqlive.co.uk/london-the-south/2017/08/03/news/gatwick-airport-set-for-1-
15bn-expansion-26760/
Gacc.org.uk. (2018). Gacc.org.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2018, from http://www.gacc.org.uk/the-
runway-issue.php