Gatwick boss dismisses ‘Heathwick’ plan
25.11.11
Gatwick boss Stewart Wingate has rejected a Government plan for a high-speed rail link between Heathrow and Gatwick to create a virtual hub as a possible solution to lack of airport capacity in the South-East. Speaking to ABTN, he said ‘any discussion on capacity is a good discussion’, but the idea of a Heathwick hub is too expensive.
He said: ‘The estimated cost of linking Gatwick to Heathrow via a high speed dedicated rail service is about £5 billion. Surely you would invest that £5 billion into transport infrastructure to get greater benefits elsewhere.’
Mr Wingate also said it would be impractical in operational terms. He said: ‘From a convenience perspective as a passenger, to have this virtual hub separated by notionally a 15-minute journey, seems extraordinary and not competitive versus other hubs around the world. That’s before you even think about the logistics of how on earth would you transfer luggage from one airport to another within such a short connecting time.’
He added that he thought Heathwick was a ‘concept that was floated’, but ‘we don’t expect to see it go much further’.
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