Colin buchanan

Colin Buchanan undertook research on behalf of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) to examine the economic impact of hub airports, particularly with reference to a third runway at Heathrow.

The study highlights the extent to which Heathrow’s shortage of capacity is leading it to fall behind Continental competitors, such as Schiphol and Frankfurt. Over the last 20 years, Heathrow has fallen from being the leading airport in Europe by destinations served to fifth place.

Meanwhile, the number of UK regional cities it serves has fallen from 21 to six, with the result that UK passengers are now effectively subsidising hubs in Continental Europe by interlining outside the UK. The airport has also been left behind by its rivals in serving the growing BRIC economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The report notes that a key benefit of a hub airport is that it can sustain a large network of routes with far lower levels of traffic than would be needed to support a point to point network of similar size. Heathrow’s transfer passengers mean that UK residents and businesses have access to more direct destinations, more frequent flights and lower fares.

We also examined a range of other benefits including direct and indirect increases in employment and gains to London as an international business location adding to its ability to recruit highly skilled people from around the world.

Click to download the full report