I may be in the minority but I think Heathrow needs a 3rd runway. It's a nightmare of an airport as it currently stands and flights can so easily be delayed and it has a massive knock on effect on travellers. As it currently stands Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world but this can easily change if things start to get bad there.

While there is an alternative of expanding Gatwick, the transport links from Gatwick are nowhere near as good as Heathrow plus the added travel time for most people to get there compared to Heathrow. You also have Crossrail incoming for Heathrow.

The only problem with the expansion is that it requires the demolition of around 800 homes. Given the current property market, I don't know how easy it will be for any people affected to find a similar house with a similar distance to central London. It feels like they will be booted and told "good luck".

In my mind the best option is to approve the Thames Estuary project and use that as a spillover for Heathrow rather than using Gatwick.