London Birmingham Airport set to join London Oxford and London Luton

Birmingham Airport claims it could become London Heathrow's 'third' runway.

The Midland's airport, which is 100 miles north of London, claims it could take the overspill from Europe's busiest hub.

Birmingham says it could easily handle another nine million passengers a year, without the need for an additional runway, while in contrast Heathrow is bursting at the seams.

If more runway capacity was required in the future, Birmingham claims to be the only airport with planning consent for a runway extension, having won local authority approval for a £120 million addition earlier this year.

New high-speed rail plans, promoted by the Conservative party, show that passengers could whizz between London and Birmingham in just 45 minutes.

Heathrow is an hour from central London by tube, though there is a 15-minute express train from Paddington in west London.

Tory secretary of state for transport Teresa Villiers has already gone on record saying that Birmingham would be a greener alternative to expanding airports in the southeast.

In its favour, Birmingham is less than a two-hour drive for half the population of the UK.

There are already nine airports claiming to serve the capital. In addition to Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Stansted and London City, airports as far away as Oxford have added London to their title.

Southend, Biggin Hill and Lydd airports all claim to be London airports. Of these three, only Biggin Hill is actually situated in a London borough.

Digg    Reddit    Facebook    Tweet This