New Civil Engineer
Gavin Pearson
23 Mar 2026
No infrastructure sector was as profoundly hit by the pandemic as the airports sector. Even while the UK government attempted to avoid implementing shutdown measures, airlines had to cancel flights and the closures that followed took a long time to recover from.
For a time, the dramatic uptake of video calling and remote working during the pandemic was also seen as a potential long-term threat to aviation, with some predicting that demand for flights would be permanently diminished. That has not proven to be the case, with airports in the UK now back to and rising above pre-pandemic passenger numbers.
As a result, airports across the country have now announced the significant resumption of capital projects to expand capacity. These include long-standing plans for additional runways at Heathrow and Gatwick, and expansion in other facilities at airports like Luton and Stansted. This took longer to happen in the UK than some other countries. British Aviation Group (BAG) chair Tim Walder is clear about why...
