Some comments here miss the point. If the only purpose of Heathrow's expansion were to improve transport connections for passengers beginnging their journey in the UK, then it would make more sense to halt expansion in favour of improving and enlargening regional airports. But the purpose of expansion is in fact principally to help Heathrow compete with Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid... as a hub airport. The benefits to British citizens can be measured more in terms of the money that Heathrow would make as the world's number 1 airport, and in terms of how much money would be lost to the national economy were it to be left to decay. I live in Madrid and often travel to London for meetings since it is a popular point for staff from offices across Europe to assemble. Increasingly it is more of an ordeal. Madrid's airport for example is a 15 minute taxi ride to the centre. Amsterdam airport is also more accessible. If Heathrow died, the consequences to the UK economy would be awful.

Adrian Elliot, Madrid, Spain

Strange that Paris CDG and Frankfurt can reach eu pollution directives with four runways. I also find it strange that the French and Germans would like to have the busiest airport hubs in Europe and bring in extra business to the respective countries. Could this be another EU attempt at derailing the British economy, or am I just being cynical?
Frankfurt has always wanted to be the money and business capital of Europe and Paris is full of Parisianes who belive that the universe revolves around their city. For gods sake please expand Heathrow!!!

Nick, Perth, Australia

Up North the same has occured at the Mottram ByPass Public Inquiry which has now shown the sole reason given for the ByPass by evidence from the DfT/Highways Agency and Tameside Council is false and not to assist the people in Longedale but to create the European Road Route from Liverpool,Manchester,Peak District National Park (Longendale Valley)Yorkshire,Humberside,Germany,Poland,Balkans.
The cat is out of the bag whilst the Inquiry is in an adjournment spell but the Pubic Inquiry is being held under False Pretences and known to the Government.
A big story is here with £millions of money already spent on the ByPass by Government to dupe the Electorate.

John Hall, Manchester,

If you ever wanted proof that 'global warming' and 'climate change' is nonsense this is it. If the situation was so serious no expansion would take place, indeed reduction in flying and shutting own airports would be the way ahead.'global warming' and 'climate change' will not get in the way of profit.

Bob, Leeds, West Yorks

If we don't put up another runway, the consequences will be disastrous. Already, without that extra runway, the airport is crowded. The wait is long. It is depressing to realise what Heathrow has come to. It is no longer the efficient and wonderful airport it once was. Why? Because of the increasing need, and want for flights. Its a practical way to travel. The world is becoming smaller and smaller by the minute, in other words, it is getting easier to do things with people in other countries that previously had been out of reach. I refuse to believe that people 'reluctantly' fly when their business requires them to. Does anyone realise how many people FLY to their holidays, day in day out, every year??!!! It is most unfortunate for those who set down roots near the airport, but it can't be helped. It is more practical to keep the flying and noise concentrated than build many more airports across the country. If you don't like it - move into the middle of the country - nobody's there!!

Jennifer Grant, Luton, UK

What is horrifiying is that those supporting growth at Heathrow happily ignore the health implications - ; increased morbidity' so the price of cheap flights is fellow citizens deaths! That is to ignore the destruction of 250,000 kids education and increased asthma in the under 5. The airports in Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam were built to reduce over flights of populated areas - London being europes most concentrated area. This idea of near to Heathrow current noise levels in teh 57DB area cover 130km sq. and that means 8 miles away! If you live in Islington or Hampstead or Greenwich you get noise - please stop with the selfish myths - we all know flights are necessary but at any price Dan - at any price - rest easy with your decisions.

christian, London, UK, UK

"a negligible impact on noise".....
"a third runway is vital to maintain Heathrow’s position in world aviation"........

Must we, the public be treated continuously as idiots.

As one of the richest countries in the world, surley we have the intelligence and resources to do what is sensible (and has been done by countless other countries)..that is build a new airport away from the urban area. In this case the Thames estuary.

A Jones, Weybridge,

Dan, well said.

Daniel, Stoke-on-Trent, UK

I have for a long time, had the view , that with oil being so expensive, and running low worldwide.Where on earth is this fuel for for further flights coming from?.
Even with bio fuels which comes from yearly crops will there be enough?.
With white farmers in Africa being driven from the land or killed by terrorists, they may well have helped provide a substantial amount.
This question I have put to anti third runway campaigners, but was met with silence.
I do live near the concerned area.

RICHARD PARTRIDGE, SOUTH RUISLIP, UK

I have a way of increasing the space at heathrow without a new runway. Expand either birmingham or manchester. Living in the midlands I am fed up with having to always travel to a london airport to fly anywhere, and I bet Im not alone in this. Perhaps the govt should focus more on making easier for the rest of the country to fly from a local airport rather than having to travel to london. This would then free up lots of capacity in London. I realise that this requires the govt to think about the 80% of the country outside of the SE.

Chris , Nottingham,

No consideration is given to the future costs of aircraft fuel.
Not only because of the increased demand from Asian countries.
With declining oil stocks and environmental considerations a tax must be added across Europe to make it more attractive for passengers to use alternative means of transport.
Enlanging Heathrow will be a White Elephant by the time it is completed

colin jackson, leatherhead, surrey

Dump Heathrow completely - it's a mess and can never be fixed.

Compare it to Hong Kong, Dubai, the new terminal in Beijing, even Bangkok ... Heathrow is no longer a world-class airport. It is the scraps left over from a past era. The rest of the world has moved on.

Make the investment and build a monster facility on a man-made island off the coast of Essex and be done with it.

jones, Shanghai, China

Cynicism and disbelief, aren't they always key components of any public consultation exercise. The decision is already made at the highest level - the answers, then the public are invited to write the questions. We have a government disliking authority (royals, Lords etc) but likes it's own instead and here we have it.

Pete, West Midlands,

It's all very well calling this " a fix up". Surely in any other sphere of life it would be criminal behaviour. Is no one to be punished for these never ending deceptions by politicians. Are they above the law? What consolation can be offered to retired Warrant Officer Fitzmaurice, who with 22 years loyal service to his country, was recently sent to prison in handcuffs for simple disobedience ,because of his protest over the effects of Council Tax increases on the elderly (this when real criminals were being released because of overcrowding!).
Our democracy, and the legal accountability of our Politicians has become a farce. Is it any wonder that more and more Britons quit the country of their birth at the first opportunity?

nemo, nivillac, france

If the process is shown to be corrupt then a public inquiry should be convened and those guilty of misfeasance prosecuted. Heathrow is a ludicrous place for an airport , plan to build a new one out on the Essex Marshes or the Isle of Sheppey with adequate rail -links to the rest of the country and Europe. Heathrow is a perfect place to solve London's housing crisis which is probably more important. Expansion of capacity at Manchester and regional airports would solve a lot of problems, but requires integrated transport solutions, that of course is not the English way.

Dunmatime, Bradford, UK

It is good to see the Environment Agency living up to its reputation as the environmental 'watchdog'. One has only to read the relevant parts of the main consultation report to see that the presentation of the data on noise and pollution was misleading. That the extra flights and traffic would cause significantly more noise, nuisance and pollution was, and is, a no brainer. The governments assertion that technology improvements would off-set the increase is unproven and optimistic. What we need is some honesty from this government, a plan that backs up government rhetoric on global warning, a break up of the BAA monopoly in the SE and a good investigative journalist put on this case.

Mike Moss, Windsor,

The only reason for expanding Heathrow is to attempt to keep London's artificial position as 'financial capital' for Europe, at the expense of developing transport links in the 'provinces'. London already has a direct high-speed rail link to the continent, it doesn't need further airline capacity.

Paul, Coventry,

Dan, My mother lived in the area before Heathrow was built. I and the rest of family were also born here. Why should we move? We have family friends and a complete social structure here.

She doesn't fly, I fly reluctantly when my boss forces me. The arguments to expand are totally selfish.

Curlew, Hayes,

Where is the oil for all those extra flights supposed to come from in 20 years' time anyway?

Jessica, London SW14, UK

The militant self-styled "environmentalists" have got it wrong this time. We need more capacity at Heathrow - one central UK hub. What we don't want is to have airports scattered around the city. There should be better transportation links into the airport too, such as a direct rail connection from Bristol into Heathrow.

Chuck, Bristol, UK

The question is DO WE NEED extra runways to satisfy demand. If the answer is YES, then we must expand Heathrow.

Hamad Lone, London, England

No,I cant beleive the Govenment would do anything underhanded

mr barnett, schafhausen, switzerland

What is wrong with a 3rd runway? Paris Roissy already has 4, going for a 5th, and likewise for other European hub airports
\.
What is lacking in London and Britain in general is some more long term public planning, somehting h the French (as being one myself) may tend to overdo in their usual state centralistism, but one excess does not justify the opposite one.

Please give me a break, the same home-loathing obstructionist to any effort to try to move things on a bigger scale, then typically go on idealiziing Paris - , a city of avenue and monuments, and a monument itself to a centrally designed piece of public work, something extending to the planned efficiency of the French railroad and oither transport infrastructures. For their own good, maybe the Brits need a little bit of this forceful public centralism a la Francaise!

Anthony Mayer, New York, USA / NY

Isn't it time for the left to stop blaming 'Big Business' for corruption and sleaze and start focusing in on the real villains - the public sector and its paid consultants.

mark mcfarland, London,

Remark to Dan: How about those people who lived in that area already, before Heathrow was expanded. The current scheme is not the first expansion, only until now we were always told that is really the very last one (again and again). Why should I leave a place where I have always lived so that BAA can make even more profits. By the way many people in these areas are quite capable of sustaining themselves. I myself pay so much tax each year that I probably finance five families like yours.

NeK, Richmond, Surrey

Isnt this how things are always done?

una, derby,

The consultation was fixed its a fact! Heathow cannot expand in anyway not just the high profile third runway.

As for the argument of "this airport has x nuber of runways, that has X number" but people fail to take into account a few things such as how those extra runways are used abroad and positioned, dont just quote meaningless numbers.

This is a BAA smash and grab, and whilst they might not get a third runway for now they will try and take mixed mode and remove runway alternation, as a conselation.

An Airport east of major city is ludicrous. Noise levels and pollution is already to high. This is an opportunity for Heathrow to become a greener airport and more residentially friendly by not expanding and allowing the noise levels which affect millions of people to shrink as technology moves on.

William Barrett, Chiswick, London

What I find amazing is that some people will insist on living near Heathrow and then whine and whinge about noise and pollution. Here's a thought... if it bugs you that much then why not move to a place where no airport is nearby?
There are much worse places to live in the UK from a health point of view than near Heathrow, and the airport is needed to maintain the economic status that brings in the tax that pays for the benefits that the majority of whiners are no doubt on.
Also, its not unreasonable to exclude the landing plane's CO2 emissions from the airport's figures. A landing plane generates far far less CO2 than a plane taking off. And the landing plane's CO2 emissions for the journey would be attributed to the airport where it took off from.

Dan, London,

So Paris CDG and frankfurt can reach eu polution regs with 4 runways but heathrow can't with 3. Can we please face facts, the 3rd runway at heathrow is needed, the question is how to achieve it with miniman impact on local residents and the wider environment. Anyone who says the runway isn't needed obvously hasn't flown from heathrow recently.

Note: I live in Norwich so for me its preferable to expand Stansted but I realise that it is not practical to do because of the transport links to the rest of the country,

Adrian, Norwich, uk

We need a new way to reduce domestic flights at Heathrow

how about extending high speed rail north of London?

Jon, Bristol,