John Grant: ‘Blocking of Heathrow expansion is mammoth own goal’

The complete and utter shambles of the UK’s aviation policy is reflected by that hole. The latest ruling – that insufficient attention has been given to the environmental impact – is a damming indictment of both the government, UK industry and our collective understanding of the need for global connectivity.

It is simply stunning that one of the UK’s largest companies can submit a planning application for such a large project without having considered every nook and cranny of the process and respected all of the environmental issues. Some observers may call that sloppy, others may shake their heads in disbelief – I assume some of those heads that are shaking will be rolling in the next few days.

If the UK government did have a UK aviation policy then it has been pulled from under their feet, although as they’ve been sitting on a politically convenient fence for the last 20 years, I can only presume the pole they are sitting on remains comfortable.

The positive impact of aviation on economic growth is well-documented; the requirement for more capacity in London and the south-east is also well documented; the value of connecting traffic that supports thinner direct services is well understood; and the strategic importance of additional capacity to new international markets post Brexit is frequently used in political debate. And yet, an industry as sophisticated and technology advanced as aviation somehow fails to see its way through the planning processes.