Heathrow airport’s Christmas bears might be cute – but here's why they are deceptive
The IndependentThe best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. In 2016, the message across the ursine universe was: “Coming home – the best gift of all.” The following year, Heathrow took a spin through the decades with “Closer this Christmas”. “Holding is actually a very efficient way of ensuring an airport with constrained runway capacity, like Heathrow, makes maximum use of the landing slots it has available.” Perhaps the 2026 Christmas commercial will be able to reflect the opening of the third runway, which is supposed to happen that year and may reduce the amount of “stacking”. Data provided by Virgin Atlantic this summer indicated UK Border Force queueing time targets at Heathrow were met on only one day in July – like December, a peak month at the airport. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Heathrow airport, for all its limitations, is part of a network that extracts astonishing capacity from constrained infrastructure that has barely changed since the end of the Second World War.
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