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Will a third runway at Heathrow lead to more flight delays? | FairPlane UK / 09.07.2015
The addition of a 3rd runway at Heathrow has now been recommended by the Davies Commission. It has also been confirmed it would mean the construction of a sixth terminal. In total, flights out of Heathrow would increase from the current 480,000 per year to around 740,000. Additionally, the airport has confirmed that there will be 12 new routes and new direct flights to around 30 cities.
The Commission has also recommended a ban on night flights amongst other measures which could mean that all these additional flights will cause further congestion in the skies above Heathrow during the day– inevitably leading to flight delays and cancellations. Currently, a flight at Heathrow takes off or lands every 45 seconds, however during bad weather aircraft fly more slowly over the ground reducing the landing rate and causing delays and cancellations.
Heathrow is one of the world's busiest airports, handling 70 million passengers in 2012, increasing to 73.4 million in 2014. More than a third transfer to other flights, making it a major hub airport In 2014,Heathrow had 470,695 total flights and according to statistical information, 0.48% of those were over 3 hours delayed which calculates to 2,259 flights in one year. With the addition of a third runway at Heathrow, the number of passengers suffering flight delays and cancellations looks set to rise.
If you’ve had a problem with a delayed flight and you think you may be entitled to flight delay compensation, why not try putting your flight details into our compensation calculator. It only takes a minute and you may be entitled to compensation of up to €600.
