The expansion of Heathrow would be an expensive disaster for Britain and the world. Burnham needs to block it | George Monbiot — SkimNews
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- Heathrow has pushed its third runway completion date to 2039, four years later than previously claimed, despite having announced last year that its plans were "shovel-ready".
- The Department for Transport estimated a third runway would cost between £23.4bn and £62.5bn and concluded its real GDP contribution would be 0.03%–0.05%, eight to 14 times less than the 0.43% figure Rachel Reeves cited (which came from an airport-commissioned report).
- The Climate Change Committee warned that Heathrow expansion alone would cause more carbon emissions by 2054 than "any other sector of the economy," and that "almost all CO2 emissions in 2050 will be from aviation."
- Andy Burnham described the runway as "contested" and "principally a matter for London and London MPs," a positioning Monbiot reads as a potential opening to block the project.
- The Royal Society concluded that meeting current UK aviation demand with energy-crop sustainable aviation fuel would require around half of UK agricultural land.
- Monbiot proposes a frequent flyer levy, citing 2024 data showing 48% of England's population did not fly at all while 5% took five or more flights abroad, accounting for 33% of all journeys.
Why it matters: The government's own figures show a third runway delivers near-zero GDP growth while harming the health of up to 3 million local residents, and Burnham's 'contested' framing suggests a political window before the now-2039 target date locks in billions in sunk-cost commitments and decades of additional emissions.
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