Sad loss of our supremacy

Sir,

While it is certainly concerning that Heathrow is losing its top slot as the world's busiest international passenger hub to Dubai, (report, FT.com ? April 11), there is a sad inevitability about this. For half a century successive governments have failed to show the courage needed to get on with airport expansion in the UK, while our competitors have rapidly grown their capacity. Dubai aside, the Germans now have four runways at Frankfurt and the French four at Charles de Gaulle in Paris.

We are seeing 350 years of British transport supremacy slipping away, with our future prospects in marked contrast to that illustrious past.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs depend on the UK being well-connected to global markets – and that means politicians have to get off the fence and give their support to airport expansion.

Jo Valentine, Chief Executive, London First