A new survey suggests that half of the residents living near Heathrow would back the construction of a third runway at the airport.
Heathrow is the world’s busiest airport in terms of international passengers, and overcrowding on its runways is one of its most pressing problems.
Critics of its expansion are vocal, but a new poll by campaign group Heathrow First shows that half of the 1,200 residents questioned would support a new runway, with the benefits of local prosperity outweighing aircraft noise and other concerns. Less than a third (30 per cent) were opposed to a third runway.
More than half (56 per cent) said they would support ‘mixed mode’ use of Heathrow’s existing runways to allow arriving and departing aircraft to use them at the same time. Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) were against this idea.
“This poll shows that people understand the importance of Heathrow to London and the UK,” said Lord Soley of Future Heathrow.
