A Comparison Of Heathrow And Gatwick Airports In The UK

This is a re-sit. A report of 1250 words to 1300 words. We have to compare Heathrow Airport with other airport within the UK. It must contain Graph and charts and please ensure that report structure follow all aspects. This is my re-sit. 

Capacity comparison

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.

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.

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.

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 customer traffic of Gatwick airport. Having less airport charge will increase the attractiveness among the potential passengers.

Economic potentiality of Heathrow and Gatwick

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.

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.

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 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. 

Expansion plan

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. 

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. 

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. 

References

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 https://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 https://www.cityam.com/217691/business-groups-slam-delay-over-airports-action

anna.aero. (2018). anna.aero. Retrieved 19 March 2018, from https://www.anna.aero/2015/01/21/will-heathrow-or-gatwick-get-the-additional-runway-they-want/

Bqlive.co.uk. (2018). Bqlive.co.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2018, from https://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 https://www.gacc.org.uk/the-runway-issue.php