希思罗机场何以沦为人间地狱？

    但是，英国政府援引环境保护方面的考量，依然不改反对该计划的态度。政客们表示，伦敦已经有六个商业机场了，难道还需要更多航班，以及随之而来的更多二氧化碳排放量吗？上周，伦敦市长鲍里斯•约翰逊——新建跑道计划的最大反对者之一——就此发表了戏剧化的演讲，使相关辩论进一步白热化，他说道：“这现在做不到，将来也做不到，该计划已死，没戏了，考虑别的办法吧。”

    针对入境关口长队的最新一轮抨击，正值双方都在就支持或反对新建跑道而发布报告之际。政府方面声称必须要平衡经济与环保需求，而不能像英国机场集团那样只考虑商业需要。英国机场集团则表示，如果希思罗机场不新建更多跑道，以支持英国与新兴市场之间的航班数量增长，那英国今后十年中将会损失140亿英镑（约220亿美元）的贸易收入。政府则回应称，这或许可以靠建设一个新机场解决。

    数月以来，英国机场集团一直威胁说，如果政府继续拒绝其扩建希思罗机场的计划，则将采取法律行动。上周，政府表示将就如何减少噪音对居民（换句话说，选民）的影响，以及第三条跑道的重要性，再次听取英国机场集团的陈述。可是，分析师们指出最终决定可能要到2015年才会作出，也就是下一届大选的时候。

    就算英国机场集团获得批准，据该公司自己的估计，新跑道要6-10年才能投入运营。与此同时呢？首先，奥运会期间来到希思罗机场的旅客们仍需等待相当长时间——尽管政府已承诺届时将投入475名工作人员，并为运动员开设机场特别跑道。但更重大的问题或许是，奥运会结束之后怎么办？

    过去十年来，旅客们发现航空旅行的体验一落千丈，欧美民航公司的空运成本飙升，而对英国机场集团来说，则要面临与政府之间敌意重重的政治性谈判。尽管如此，在民航领域，政府需求——比如说安检——仍然凌驾于商业效率之上，因此现在这些问题恐怕将持续下去，除非建设更多机场、扩建希思罗，或者有人开发出某种简单便捷的生物识别技术，能使安检效率骤升。

    很多专家认为，希思罗机场建设第三条跑道的愿望将会得到满足——特别是因为商界领袖们正日益热情高涨地为此请愿。可在不远的将来，入境关口的长队仍不大可能变短，考虑到英国政府仍在就此事进行试探性调查，而且财政预算颇为紧张，我们最好不抱太高期望。

    译者：小宇

    The British government, however, cites environmental concerns and has not backed down in its opposition to the plan. London is already served by six commercial airports, policymakers argue, so why does the city need more airplane traffic, and subsequently more carbon emissions? This week London mayor Boris Johnson, who is one of the biggest critics of the plan, continued to ignite the debate with a dramatic speech that concluded, "It is not deliverable now or in the future. It is dead, it is over, move on."

    The latest round of recriminations about the immigration queues come as both sides are publishing reports for or against the proposed runway. The government claims it needs to balance the needs of the economy and the environment against BAA's commercial needs. BAA claims that Britain will lose 14 billion pounds (about $22 billion) worth of trade over the next ten years if Heathrow doesn't build more runways to support growth in air travel routes to emerging markets. The government says that it might build a new airport instead.

    For months, BAA has been threatening to take legal action if the government continues to reject the idea of expanding Heathrow. Last week, the government acknowledged that it would listen to another round of presentations by BAA about noise reduction to residents (one could call them voters) and the importance of the third runway. Analysts, however, are saying that a definitive answer could be pushed off as late as 2015, when the next general election takes place.

    Even if BAA gets approval, the company itself estimates that a new runway will take six to 10 years to open. And in the meantime? First, travelers coming to Heathrow during the Olympics might still experience significant waiting times, even despite the 475 extra staff, and special lanes for athletes, that the government has promised. But the greater question, perhaps, is what will happen after the Games.

    Over the past decade, air travel has turned into a fraught experience for the passenger, a costly affair for struggling European and American airlines and, in the case of BAA, a hostile political negotiation with the government. Given that, in aviation, the needs of governments -- e.g., for security—trump commercial efficiency, the current problem looks here to stay, either until more airports are built, Heathrow expands, or someone develops foolproof biometric technology to make security dramatically more efficient.

    Many experts believe that Heathrow will get its third runway -- particularly as the pleas from business leaders grow more intense. But the queues at immigration seem unlikely to ease in the immediate future. Judging by the government's probing inquiries into the matter -- and its stretched purse strings -- best to expect nothing less.