CAPacity FOR THE FUTURE
Heathrow claims that a third runway will provide capacity for 130mppa,
but this means operating at 98% capacity with an average of 188
passengers on each flight. This is worse than Heathrow today and
provides no resilience for delays and cancellations. Based on the
same criteria, the 4-runway Thames Hub Airport could provide capacity
for up to 221mppa. However, for resilient operations, a maximum
of 85% runway use and an average 164 passengers per flight is
our target, resulting in capacity of 167mppa – a figure that still far
exceeds Heathrow’s capacity.