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INFRASTRUCTURECounty’s hub reservationsSHOULD Shropshire businesses besupporting the planned expansion ofHeathrow Airport, and its controversial thirdrunway?That was the question posed at abreakfast briefing, ‘Heathrow Airport – OneHub or None?’, at the Buckatree Hall Hotelin Telford.Andrew Macmillan, the airport’sdirector of strategy, travelled to the countyto address the gathering, hosted byShropshire Chamber of Commerce.And the consensus in the room?A broad, but slightly reserved vote ofconfidence for the airport’s expansionplans.With Heathrow – the UK’s only ‘hub’ Andrew Macmillan (right), director ofairport linking us with the rest of the world strategy at Heathrow, with Shropshire– now operating at 98 per cent capacity, Chamber president Keith Winter.Mr Macmillan said expansion at the westLondon site was vital to prevent it losing touch with the rest of the world.“We have the busiest two runways in the world, with planes landing or taking off every45 seconds, and airlines unable to expand due to insufficient slots.“Our model is different to other UK airports. As a hub, we are not competing with otherUK airports, but with other hub airports such as Dubai, which is about to overtake us asthe busiest in the world, for the first time.“I am aware that some in Shropshire cannot understand why expansion should nottake place instead at the likes of Birmingham where there is spare capacity. But this isnot a choice between Birmingham or Heathrow. It is a case of saying do we want tohave one of these hub airports in the UK or not, because we can only have one of them,and Heathrow is clearly where the demand lies.”Not good enoughNic Laurens, managing director of Severn Diamond Limited in Shrewsbury, once took143 flights in a 12-month period, and while he said he backed Heathrow’s expansionplans, he added: “I still don’t believe it is good enough for the people of Shropshire.“We are going to have a rail link to London, but it still requires a change, so mostpeople are going to have to drive – and there is a suggestion of a congestion chargeonce you arrive, which immediately puts me off.”Mandy Thorn, head of Marches Care in Shrewsbury, agreed that the new-lookHeathrow would be “dead in the water from Shropshire’s point of view” if it imposed acongestion charge.Simon Macvicker, Shropshire Chamber’s chairman of policy and managing directorof Bridgnorth Aluminium Limited, said there was clearly more work to be done on theconnectivity side. But he said it was “tremendously heartening” that airport officials wereprepared to venture to the county to seek the views of the business community.Chamber chief executive Richard Sheehan said: “We want to see Birmingham Airportflourish, but we can also see there is clearly wider value in the Heathrow expansion.”company itself. Paul is responsible for aworkforce of around 600, but that’s barely10 per cent of the total number of peopleemployed on site.So, when French air traffic controllersdecide to strike, there are grumbles aboutpassport control, issues surrounding retailservices or delays over late arrival ofbaggage, he’s not the man in charge.And yet, it is Paul, the boss, whose head ishighest above the parapet when it comesto fielding the complaints.On my visit, there were a staggering370,000 minutes of delays in the Europeanairline system – many having knock-oneffects for Birmingham which Paul and histeam were powerless to address.Paul is broadly welcoming of chancellorGeorge Osborne’s latest pledge to createa northern counterweight to the Londonobsessedtransport system, with the help ofboth HS2 and HS3 rail links.Threat“We are supporters of HS2, but the thoughtof having a crossroads between HS2and HS3 at Manchester Airport is a realcompetitive threat to us.”Even without getting into the argumentabout whether Birmingham should builda second runway – another political hotpotato – the site has the capacity to morethan double its current passenger base ofaround nine million people a year.“The runway itself is now what’s called abalanced runway of 3,000 metres and itstheoretical capacity is around 30 millionpassengers a year.“It depends on many factors such as sizeand frequency of aeroplane, but there isno doubt that the capability is more thandouble the levels we are operating attoday. And that would represent doublingthe jobs at this airport too.”But for more big-name airlines to chooseBirmingham, they need to see a potentialbusiness customer base to fill the lucrativeseats at the front end of the plane.Paul says: “The most successful exampleof what can be achieved here is Emirates,which has gone from zero to being, possibly,this time next year, our most voluminousservice, possibly overtaking Dublin.”So what’s on Paul Kehoe’s ‘to do’ list overthe coming months? Have his prioritieschanged?“Well, it isn’t the job I thought it was, whenI agreed to first come. When I came here,I thought the job was going to be a silverbullet to be honest. I thought I’d just get inhere and sort it out. I was asked to transformthe business and that’s what we’ve done.“We’ve built a new pier, built a car park,put the two terminals together, built ahangar, built a control tower, lengthenedthe runway, downsized our staff, and weinsource rather than outsource activities,changing the culture.“The one thing that has eluded meto some extent, I think, is the marketpresence. We still struggle, but we havebeen doing all this in the worst aviationrecession in 60 years, so should I beatmyself up too much?“I don’t know, because if you look at thegraph showing loss of airport passengersin that time, we’ve actually been the leastaffected of UK airports. So, we haven’tdone such a bad job.“Most things that happen here are out ofour control, whether it’s a power outagein customs and excise, a fuel-tank failurewhich means we can’t get fuel here,a French air traffic control strike, or avolcano . . . it just goes on.”“But consumers are becoming more andmore intolerant. They want it now, theywant it perfect, and they deserve it.”Birmingham’s challenge is to persuade Shropshire fliers of the airport’s advantagesover rivals such as Manchester.Below: Events such as the 2010 volcanic eruption are among the ungovernablechallenges facing the industry.1415