Toll Roads or Government Tab: How Should Heathrow Pay for £17.6B in Construction?
Jackie Reddy November 24, 2015
As it emerges that the cost of road improvements haven’t been included in the £17.6 billion estimate for a new and improved Heathrow, Willie Walsh calls for toll roads to ease the price of expanding LHR.
Construction hasn’t even started, but the prospect of a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) is proving to be an endlessly controversial topic.
Contention aside, Willie Walsh, CEO of International Airways Group (IAG), which owns British Airways and operates approximately half the flights at the airport, is now looking for a way to ease the cost of the construction. Earlier this year, he condemned the project’s estimated price tag of £17.6 billion (U.S. $26.6 billion), calling it “overinflated.”
However, it has emerged that this already considerable sum does not include the cost of improving the road network around the airport, which could add more than £5 billion (U.S. $7.5 billion) to the final bill. With this in mind, Walsh has called for toll roads to be introduced around LHR to help fund the cost of the project.
The question of who should pay for these roads, however, has not yet been answered by the United Kingdom’s Airports Commission, the body which is tasked with determining how to efficiently manage the expansion of London’s airports.
Speaking at the U.K. Aviation Conference in London on November 23, Walsh’s comments appeared in favor of the toll option. “I think there are times the government should pay and there are times when there is another way. I don’t mind tolled highways; I don’t mind tolled motorways if they are efficient. It works in other countries,” he said.
“If you get a benefit I don’t see why you shouldn’t be prepared to pay,” Walsh added.
However, the airport has indicated that the tab for improved road links is expected to be picked up by the government.
The total cost of the expansion, as levied on the airlines and to be borne by the passenger, is expected to be approximately £29 (U.S. $44) per person, making Heathrow one of the most expensive airports in the world.
Walsh commented on this, saying, “We believe it is outrageous…There is no point having infrastructure if people won’t use it because it’s too expensive.”
[Photo: Getty]
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Why this is such a ridiculous amount of money? Well, pretty much the same goes for everything else here in the UK, I've accustomed myself to pretty much pay twice as much for everything from rent to a pint of beer at the pub. And that is comparing to Australia, in itself also not exactly the cheapest place on Earth! And what Mr. Walsh, in charge of Europe's crappiest airline behind Lufthansa, is concerned- clearly he wants the cost to be paid for by everyone but his bloody BA which would be the main winner of a Heathrow expansion.
So which roads does Willie have in mind? Presumably the M25 & M4 are the main ones. Two roads that are already heavily congested and most uses of which have nothing to do with Heathrow. Are those users expected to pay to subsidize the building of the third runway? Tolling sections of the M25 & M4 in this way would be madness.
How? Look at the estimate for a start, laugh and then ask for a new quote. £17bn buys a whole new airport. Why does everything related to infrastructure and the UK have to cost billions? If they do have to spend that much, at least have the gumption to put in two new runways.
Yet more evidence of the Heathrow+ option being inadequately or incompetently planned and costed. As usual with the UK's habit of trying to bolt new capacity onto old and creaking infrastructure this will cost much more and take much longer than it should, will deliver less of a performance upgrade in operation and will rapidly prove to need topping up once again. The Thames Estuary solution remains the best - and most secure - proposal for London's airport requirements and can provide capacity for 30 years or more growth. Funding? A minute tax on London's corporations would raise the necessary in no time, so those who would benefit most from a better airport would also be paying for it.
They just just forget Heathrow and build a newer and bigger airport at the other side of London compete with a high speed train line. Would still be cheaper than £17.6B