London's Heathrow plans to expand capacity by 2031
Heathrow Airport in England has unveiled a £10bil (RM56.94bil) investment plan to expand capacity, aiming to handle an extra 10 million passengers per year by 2031.
The plan forms the core of the airport's 2027-2031 business proposal, which was submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) recently.
It would require passenger charges being set an average of £33.26 (RM189.40) during the period, Heathrow said. That is compared with an average of £28.46 (RM162) between 2022 and 2026. The CAA determines the cap on per-passenger landing charges that airlines must pay to Heathrow. Airlines pass on the cost of these to passengers through fares.
The investment plan would create new space within existing terminals equivalent to 10 football pitches, enabling new lounges, restaurants and shops to be built.
It would also result in faster security and baggage handling, according to the airport.
Heathrow's aim is for 95% of passengers to wait less than five minutes at security, 99% of bags to travel with their owner, and 80% of flights to depart on time.
The airport is seeking to demolish the building previously used as Terminal 1, extend Terminal 2 and build a new southern access road tunnel.
Once complete, the project would enable Heathrow to increase its passenger capacity by 12%, equivalent to 10 million more travellers annually.
Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said: 'We're making good progress on our strategy to become an extraordinary airport – having become Europe's most punctual major airport so far this year.
'But our customers want us to improve our international rankings further, as do we.
'To compete with global hubs, we must invest. Our five-year plan boosts operational resilience, delivers the better service passengers expect and unlocks the growth capacity airlines want with stretching efficiency targets and a like-for-like lower airport charge than a decade ago.
'With Heathrow's Britain-based supply chain, this private investment will create jobs and drive national growth during this Parliament.
'We are ready to deliver the more efficient, sustainable Heathrow that will keep Britain connected to the world.'
That means faster security, smoother baggage handling, more comfortable terminals, new lounges, restaurants and shops – all while delivering a better service for the growing number of passengers who need assistance.'
Heathrow is Europe's busiest airport, with more than 83.9 million passengers travelling through its terminals in 2024. – dpa
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
21 minutes ago
- The Star
This robot uses Japanese tradition and AI for sashimi that lasts longer and is more humane
A Los Angeles-area startup is using artificial intelligence and robotics in an unlikely way: making sashimi and other fish dishes taste better, last longer and more humane. El Segundo, California-based Shinkei Systems wants to bring a traditional Japanese method of handling fish to fine dining in America, using technology to replace the labour-intensive process historically handled by practitioners on board ships. Investors have just bet millions that it will succeed. The company's AI-driven robot – called Poseidon – has been designed to do a traditional form of fish handling called ikejime in Japanese. It is a method of killing fish that enthusiasts say enhances flavour, texture and shelf life. Although fish processed in this way is found in some of the best restaurants in Japan, it hasn't been promoted in the US because it is generally too expensive. Automating the process will make it more readily available to Americans, said Saif Khawaja, the company's chief executive. "My end goal is that you're walking into your local grocery store and can buy fish that lasts three times as long, tastes better and is handled humanely," he said. The company raised US$22mil (RM 94.10mil) in a funding round last month, co-led by Founders Fund and Interlagos, bringing total funding to US$30mil (RM 128.32mil) since its inception. It has four Poseidons working on ships in the Pacific and Atlantic and hopes to have 10 more working in the coming year. The ikejime process involves taking live fish that has just been caught and quickly putting them out of their misery by killing them with a spike through the brain and cutting their gills. This stops the stress hormone and lactic acid buildup that can hurt flavor and texture when fish are left to asphyxiate. Although traditional practitioners sometimes add a step in which the spinal cord is destroyed, Poseidon just does the first steps of the ikejime technique. The method has remained largely artisanal even in Japan, where only some fishermen will make the effort to process batches of fish in this way to sell to specific sushi chefs who are obsessed with having the highest-quality ingredients. Even in Japan, the method "is still too labour-intensive to replicate at a high speed without damaging the fish," Khawaja said, adding that, "It's impractical and unsustainable for fishermen to adopt methods that require significant hands-on work," in the US. Shinkei says it also has a higher calling than just better-tasting fish. Khawaja said one of the motivations for developing the technology was to try to find a kinder, gentler way to kill fish than letting them die gasping for air. During childhood fishing trips with his father in the Red Sea, he remembers it being "very hard to watch" fish suffocating after they were caught. Poseidon is roughly refrigerator-sized and sits on fishing boat decks. — Courtesy Shinkei Systems/TNS While he was in graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, Khawaja was moved by an essay that argued that fish suffer inhumane deaths because they cannot vocalise pain. He even once considered developing sensors to make fish's pain audible. Shinkei provides Poseidon machines to fishermen, who then sell fish processed through the machines back to Shinkei at a premium. Shinkei in turn sells the fish to restaurants and other retailers under its fish company Seremoni. Poseidon is roughly refrigerator-sized and sits on fishing boat decks. It processes fish within seconds of being caught. The fish is fed through an opening in the machine and into a small vinyl cavity. The machine then uses AI to identify what kind of fish it is and where exactly its brain and gills are. Fish emerge with a hole in the head and incisions near the gills before being placed in an ice slurry for blood drainage. Quickly killing the fish, bleeding it and chilling it without freezing leads to fish that is noticeably better, Khawaja said. "There's going to be a flavour profile difference and there's going to be texture profile difference," he said. The company chose Los Angeles for its headquarters and production because it has the right mix of potential employees as well as customers. It has the mechanical engineering talent as well as a major fishing fleet and lots of high-end restaurants. "The best mechanical engineering talent in the world, in my opinion, is in Southern California," said Seremoni co-founder Reed Ginsberg. The city is also a major health and consumer products hub as well as a trend setter for cutting-edge food fads. Chef Michael Cimarusti, co-owner of the Michelin starred Providence restaurant in Los Angeles, says he tries to buy local ikejime fish when he can because it preserves the quality and color. The fish preserved using ikejime look as if they "were just pulled from the water minutes ago," he said in an interview posted on YouTube by the American Fishing Tackle Co. Shinkei currently processes thousands of pounds weekly across operations in Washington, Central California and Massachusetts, with expansion to Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico planned this year. After feedback from fishermen that the bots took up too much deck space, the company developed "Block 2" robots that have roughly half the footprint while processing fish twice as fast. Currently, black cod and black sea bass processed through Poseidon are sold under Shinkei's brand Seremoni at retailers such as Happier Grocery and served at upscale restaurants including Atomix and Sushi Zo. This summer, the company plans to add salmon and red snapper to its offerings. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Bog Apple: NYC discovers stand-alone toilet pods
NEW YORK: Faced with closed restrooms, vandalized facilities and lavatory deserts, New Yorkers and visitors to the city alike confront a host of hurdles to relieve themselves when out and about. In its latest efforts to combat this problem, the Big Apple has turned to a Portland-based company that designs modular public conveniences it claims are city-proof. The products, dubbed 'Portland Loos,' are the brainchild of Madden Fabrication and have garnered something of a cult following around the versatile, kiosk-like facilities which the company says are far cheaper than traditional toilet buildings. Such public toilet pods have already been installed in 250 locations throughout the United States. New York has pledged to build 49 new public bathrooms by 2029 to combat the lack of toilets across the five boroughs. Currently, there are approximately 1,100 public conveniences for the megacity's 8.4 million people, according to official estimates. - 'Simple but durable' - The city will spend $150 million on building new restrooms and renovating 36 existing sites. At the $200,000 unit installed in the Bronx's Joyce Kilmer park, two blocks from Yankee Stadium baseball park, bystanders eyed the new fixture with interest. One man accidentally activated the hand dryer, part of a sink fitting located on the outside of the booth. A spokesman for the company described the design as 'simple but durable,' with the basin placed outside in order to keep people moving and avoid a 'hotel effect.' 'Hell yeah, we haven't had a bathroom in this area in forever,' said lifelong Bronx resident Carlos Lopez, describing discrepancies in public restroom access between lower-income and wealthier neighborhoods. For the five trial units ordered, New York insisted on a higher grade of stainless steel and other modifications to meet strict planning rules. Street photographer Elijah Dominique, who lives near the park, said public bathrooms were especially important for unhoused people. 'We've got a lot of homeless people in this area,' Dominique said. 'Those are the people who really need these bathrooms. It's good for them -- and for us too so that we're not stepping in (waste) on the sidewalks. Nobody wants that.' - Reuters
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
Delta will not use AI to set personalized ticket prices
FILE PHOTO: A Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-800 plane sits at the gate at LAX airport in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 1, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Delta Air Lines said Friday it will not use artificial intelligence to set personalized ticket prices for passengers after facing sharp criticism from U.S. lawmakers. Last week, Democratic Senators Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner and Richard Blumenthal said they believe the Atlanta-based airline would use AI to set individual prices, which would "likely mean fare price increases up to each individual consumer's personal 'pain point.'" Delta has said it plans to deploy AI-based revenue management technology across 20% of its domestic network by the end of 2025 in partnership with Fetcherr, an AI pricing company. "There is no fare product Delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that targets customers with individualized prices based on personal data," Delta told the senators in a letter Friday seen by Reuters. "Our ticket pricing never takes into account personal data." (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
