How ‘mixed mode’ could solve Heathrow’s capacity crunch long before a third runway Plane Talk: Flights at Heathrow could increase starting tomorrow – but it wouldn’t be popular.
That was the private response of one of the 16 transport secretaries this century when I asked whether they had considered allowing both runways at London Heathrow airport to be used for arrivals and departures at the same time.
For a government obsessively focused on growth, it could unlock extra capacity at the UK’s biggest hub for very little additional financial cost – but, as the erstwhile minister indicated, huge political cost.
Heathrow at its peak has a landing every 80 seconds and a take-off every 80 seconds.
The only regular use of mixed mode is between 6am and 7am daily, the busiest hour for arrivals into the airport.
