{"id":117710,"date":"2018-09-17T11:56:02","date_gmt":"2018-09-17T10:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=117710"},"modified":"2018-09-17T11:56:02","modified_gmt":"2018-09-17T10:56:02","slug":"how-heathrow-used-an-integrated-campaign-to-win-its-third-runway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/how-heathrow-used-an-integrated-campaign-to-win-its-third-runway\/","title":{"rendered":"How Heathrow used an integrated campaign to win its third runway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nigel Milton, director of communications at Heathrow Airport, recently spoke at the CIPR\u2019s Influence Live event and explained how the airport went from being called \u2018Heathrow Hassle\u2019 to having its third runway approved by Government. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Heathrow airport is the busiest in Europe, with some 78 million passengers passing through it in 2017. It\u2019s also recently had plans for a third runway approved \u2013 fulfilling the UK\u2019s need for increased air traffic capacity.<\/p>\n

But getting to this point wasn\u2019t an easy journey; while a third runway was initially supported by Gordon Brown\u2019s Government in 2009, the policy and politics all changed when the coalition Government came to power and immediately scrapped it.<\/p>\n

Milton told Influence Live that when he joined in 2010, the airport already had the reputation of a \u2018national embarrassment\u2019, with \u2018Heathrow Hassle\u2019 in the lexicon. This made finding political supporters almost impossible.<\/p>\n

So, how did they manage to turn it around? With the help of an international event, the London Mayor and an integrated campaign like no other.<\/p>\n

In 2012, London hosted the Olympics and Heathrow became the official airport of the games. For Milton, it was an opportunity to reset the dial as the Games could effectively make or break the airport\u2019s fortunes. In Milton\u2019s own words, they \u2018nailed it\u2019.<\/p>\n

Part of the success was leaving nothing to chance. Not only did Heathrow prepare for the oddly-shaped luggage carried by international athletes (oars, bikes, racquets etc), it also increased spending on toilet maintenance because, bizarrely, the number one factor that makes a difference to someone\u2019s opinion of an airport is the cleanliness of the toilets.<\/p>\n

Major incident-free, the London Olympics were a huge success for Heathrow and, what\u2019s more, the Government had changed its position on the need to expand UK airport capacity. This policy reversal was, in no small part, thanks to the London Mayor at the time, Boris Johnson.<\/p>\n

While Johnson may have more recently been elected as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip with the promise there would be no third runway at Heathrow, he was at the time considered the airport\u2019s champion politician \u2013 Milton said, \u2018Without Boris, we wouldn\u2019t have secured a third runway\u2019. Johnson had argued that London needed more airport capacity, favouring the creation of an island in the Thames. While this wasn\u2019t realised \u2013 his desire for more capacity was and so the long road to an extra runway began again for Heathrow.<\/p>\n

The success of the Olympics put Heathrow in a strong position for its runway plans, as it could now trade on its national and international reputation of excellence, making it the frontrunner for expansion.<\/p>\n

Milton\u2019s approach was two-fold, a public relations campaign was designed to bring everyone, from its staff and local residents to Scottish businesses, on board and a public affairs campaign to gain political support.<\/p>\n

The airport\u2019s four business priorities were at the centre of its PR campaign:<\/p>\n