UK: Heathrow Airport promises to surpass ‘green’ conditions

London Heathrow has pledged to exceed the environmental stipulations laid down for it in order to gain permission to build a third runway. Building a third runway at the west London airport was declared the best option for extra runway capacity in the crowded southeast of England after a 2-year investigation by a govt-backed commission. Despite clearly opting for Heathrow, however, the commission’s choice has been kicked into the long grass by the UK govt, which at the end of last year commissioned yet more environmental studies into the impact of increasing capacity there. A final decision is not expected until well into the second half of this year. Deterioration in environmental conditions as a result of additional flights has always been regarded as Heathrow’s Achilles heel by its opponents. <br/>