Guernsey Press

Runway too short for many Heathrow flights – Chamber

RENEWED air links to Heathrow would be welcome, but without a longer runway here major airlines will not operate a service, Guernsey Chamber of Commerce president Tony Rowbotham has said.

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Blue Islands has also raised concerns, stating that nearly half the seats to and from the island were empty.

Heathrow has said that if it gets the opportunity to build another runway it will encourage more domestic services, possibly including Guernsey.

Mr Rowbotham said the business community was in favour of increasing air links, especially with Heathrow.

'Heathrow has greater connectivity for long-haul routes,' he said.

Gatwick and Heathrow are competing to see which one will get an extra runway. The decision will be down to the Airports Commission, which is expected to deliver its recommendation in the summer.

Mr Rowbotham believed Heathrow might be slightly better for business travellers because it would benefit from the Crossrail service, which is set to open in 2018.

But he was concerned that Guernsey Airport would not be able cope with new carriers.

'The runway is too short for most carriers, so it does not matter what happens at Heathrow or Gatwick,' said Mr Rowbotham.

'Airlines like easyJet, Ryanair and KLM want to fly Boeings and our runway is too short for that.'

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