The expansion of London Heathrow Airport has been the subject of heated debate for several years. Both the operator and local airlines want a third runway to be built. Now Virgin Atlantic, previously a fervent supporter of the project, is surprisingly turning away.

Before the corona pandemic, the UK's largest airport was considered chronically overloaded. Take-off and landing rights were traded dearly among airlines. In the meantime, however, the capacity problem is no longer on the runway, but on the simple fact that both the airport and the service providers working on site are suffering from an acute shortage of staff.

However, the “third runway” project is not off the table. The resistance from local residents, but also from environmentalists, is unbroken. Virgin Atlantic boss Shai Weiss surprisingly said during a conference that the project was no longer supported. So far, the airline, which is part of Richard Branson's empire, has been a particularly active advocate of the Heathrow expansion.

Behind the change of heart is not that Virgin Atlantic has suddenly sided with environmentalists, but that they are pissed off at Heathrow management. This has repeatedly increased the fees and the construction of the third runway is to be financed by higher usage costs. That doesn't suit Virgin at all, because you feel downright gutted like a Christmas goose. It is hoped that the non-construction of the planned third runway will inevitably lead to more competition among the British capital's airports and thus to lower prices.

Interestingly, just a few weeks ago, Virgin Atlantic saw the comeback of long-haul flights from London-Gatwick once again put on the back burner. They want to focus on Heathrow first and only reactivate the offer that they had before the corona pandemic from the second largest airport in the British capital at a later date. The 180-degree turn in terms of the third Heathrow runway is therefore all the more surprising.