PC/WI: London Heathrow built with with four parallel runways from the start.

WILDGEESE

Gone Fishin'
What if London Heathrow Airport was built from the start with four parallel runways instead of just the two?

What problems would be alleviated by this compared to the OTL?

How much extra traffic (aircraft & passengers) would it be able to handle today?

How would this effect London Gatwick?

Regards filers
 

kernals12

Banned
What if London Heathrow Airport was built from the start with four parallel runways instead of just the two?

What problems would be alleviated by this compared to the OTL?

How much extra traffic (aircraft & passengers) would it be able to handle today?

How would this effect London Gatwick?

Regards filers
Currently, Heathrow handles 80 million passengers out of the 177 million handled by all of London's international airports. With 2 extra runways, i'd assume it could handle twice as many, 160 million. Those extra 17 million (and more in the future) will need somewhere to go, and since City airport is too small, it'll probably be Gatwick. Luton, Stansed, and Southend probably will close.
 

Devvy

Donor
Believe it or not, it was actually built with 6 mid length runways arranged in a star formation. Over time all the runways were converted to taxiways or built on, apart from the main two east/west runways which have been extended.
 
The real WI is that an expansion on the airport north of Bath Road (A4). Was already in the cards in the 1950s but was shelved for various reasons.

Another interesting POD is Gatwick getting its second runway in the 1970s or early 1980s instead of OTL's 40 years moratorium.

In either case Stansted remains a field, Southend doesnt exist as a commercial airport and City could go either way.
 
It would certainly help, although you'd still be limited in the types of aircraft and numbers which could land or takeoff during the night. To fix that you'd need to have the airport in another location which is outside the scope of the thread.
 
I cannot remember where I read it but as a youngster in the mid 1960's I recall there was a short lived proposal to bury the M4/A4 all the way from Langley to Heston with another major runway system built on top Everything south of the Current Main road would have become part of the Airport except the two villages remaining as enclaves. This plan also included tube and main line link. If it had ever been done in the late 50's/60's then it would have pretty much future proofed Heathrow airport.
 
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