Heathrow's T5 was "the right move"

by Kate Pritchard - Wednesday, 14th May 2008 -

Despite the public backlash, the 20,000 pieces of lost luggage and hundreds of cancelled flights, Asian entrepreneur Surinder Arora says the government was right to give British Airports Authority its blessing to expand Heathrow airport.

Arora is one of the richest entrepreneurs in the UK, worth a whopping £225m.

It was his company, Arora International, that won the bid to build Terminal Five’s only hotel – an impressive feat given that he was pitching against the likes of The Marriott, The Hilton and InterContinental.

“Do I agree with the expansion of Heathrow airport? People will think I’m biased because of my business, but the answer is yes,” says the 48-year-old.

“Heathrow airport was built for 40 million passengers and it carries 68 million passengers a year on two runways. It’s running over its capacity and that causes ‘traffic jams’ in the skies.

“Most of the flights that come into Heathrow end up in a stacking system for ten to 20 minutes. They burn more fuel, which means more contamination.

“Look at Dallas airport. It carries the same number of passengers as Heathrow but has six or seven runways. From a safety point of view, and to remain a world leader, it needed to expand.”

While most entrepreneurs are tightening their belts and laying off staff, Arora has just recruited another 300 employees to work at his T5 hotel. That means he now has “north of 1,000 people” under his command.

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