Heathrow's third runway: costly expansion masking poor econo

George Monbiot argues that Heathrow's proposed third runway represents poor economic and climate policy disguised as growth. The Department for Transport's own analysis puts the project cost between £23.4bn and £62.5bn, yet estimates genuine GDP gain at just 0.03–0.05% – a fraction of claims made by the airport and previously cited by Rachel Reeves when chancellor. The transport department's cost-benefit assessment reveals a substantial net loss once social and environmental harms are factored in. The project would harm the health and wellbeing of up to 3 million local residents, Monbiot reports. His position is direct: airport expansion discourse typically frames aviation growth as inevitable economic necessity, but the numbers don't support it. If the UK is serious about reducing emissions and prioritising genuine human welfare, the argument goes, it must use planes less, not build capacity for more flights. The piece raises a harder question beneath the policy debate: how long will governments continue funding projects with negative net social value simply because aviation and airport operators lobby effectively? Monbiot calls on Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, to block the scheme – a signal that regional leaders may become the constraint on expansion, not Westminster.

The expansion of Heathrow would be an expensive disaster for Britain and the world. Burnham needs to block it | George Monbiot

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