Up in the air: If our airport capacity must be expanded, get on with it

Team Heathrow is understandably delighted with the verdict of the Davies Commission that favours its expansion plan over that of Gatwick, and, for that matter, the so-called Boris Island estuarial airport east of London (long-since discarded by the commission).

Yet even friends of Heathrow – remarkably few outside the business community – would admit that, were the UK starting from scratch and deciding where to plonk a world-leading “hub”, the western outskirts of London might not be the best spot. These densely populated suburbs have suffered noise and air pollution for far too long, while the economic benefits that have accrued might have been better centred somewhat to the north. Luton might have been a better spot, or indeed Gatwick. But Heathrow has an advantage simply because it is the largest of these; a weak argument in principle if not in practice. We might also, as a nation, reflect on whether we wish to participate in the expansion of aviation, the most environmentally unfriendly of all transport modes (although the solar-powered plane making its way across the Pacific gives us hope for the future).

In any case, the Government hasn’t reached a decision on whether to follow Davies’ recommendations, and won’t for as long as possible. Given the vested interests of some ministers and Tory MPs, now well represented in the area after the collapse of the Lib Dem vote, it might not be possible for the Prime Minister to force a decision in favour of Heathrow through Parliament without support from Labour. One of the most important economic decisions faced by the nation in decades cannot be taken by a PM without the backing of his party, or by a party – Labour – lacking a permanent leader.

Like passengers delayed in an airport lounge, frustration at the dithering is at boiling point.