Plans for a third runway at one of the busiest airports in the world has received conditional approval, and could mean an increase of up to 54% in air traffic at the London airport.
Heathrow, which first opened in 1946 as a tiny airfield supporting about 9,000 commercial flights a year, has expanded steadily over the past six decades to encompass an area of about five square miles, or 13 square kilometers. The airport now serves more than 180 destinations in more than 90 countries. But that figure is down 20 percent from the 227 destinations served in 1990. Heathrow’s two existing runways now run at 99 percent capacity, handling more than 460,000 takeoffs and landings per year, with nearly 67 million passengers annually passing through its five terminals.
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