On Monday, February 25 Greenpeace activists climbed onto the roof of an Airbus 320 at Heathrow and unfurled a banner in protest of the project.
Two days later, on February 27, activists from Plane Stupid, a group of climate change campaigners, did the same on the roof of the House of Commons.
Protesters claim that a government consultation on the issue has been fixed, paving the way for a plan that involves demolishing 700 homes and exposing thousands of Londoners to higher air and noise pollution.
Economic impact
The government, London airport operator BAA, and national carrier British Airways (BA) claim that Heathrow, which is a key contributor to the UK economy, is losing ground vis a vis its European counterparts.
Last year the overcharged airport handled 68m travelers - 45 per cent of all air passengers in the UK.
BA’s CEO Willie Walsh said last February: “Without extra runway capacity, Heathrow’s route network will continue to shrink. In 1990, you could fly from Heathrow to 227 destinations around the world. Today, you can reach no more than 180.”
A fifth terminal, which will open soon, will receive 35m passengers a year and take pressure off existing terminals. But the main problem, that of creating capacity to handle more flights, still remains.
An additional runway at Heathrow would ease pressure on the existing ones as it would be able to handle 700,000 take-offs and landings a year by 2020, about 50% more than today.
People and environment
Residents and local authorities in the Heathrow area say the expansion will mean 900 extra flights a day, increasing disruption for more than 50 communities.
They say Heathrow was built in the wrong place and the solution is not to expand it, but develop London's other airports - Gatwick, Stansted and Luton.
