Foster + Partners consortium · National infrastructure · UK / global
The economic case for a UK hub airport.
An Airports Commission deadline, a c.£24bn proposal and an argument required to survive economists, lobbyists and the front pages.
2,000 metros modelled
Six hubs compared
Credited in published submission
Capital commitment
Sovereign / public
Aviation & infrastructure
The challenge
The consortium had the design and engineering for an estuary airport. It lacked the economic argument for why the decision mattered, with outline submissions due within weeks.
The work
A proprietary model of 2,000 metropolitan economies computed the share of global GDP within reach by flight time, while ten years of route data compared six hubs. The frame moved from where Britain could tolerate a runway to where Britain could reach the world economy.
The result
The client’s published submission reproduced and credited the 2,000-city model, with the 27% / 94% connectivity finding at the centre of its case. The proposal was not shortlisted; the Commission cited cost and environment.
One of twelve case studies in the record. The full set - corporate strategy, transactions and capital commitments - sits in the case studies index.
Engagements were won and led by Elliot Ronald and delivered by teams under his direction at Lion Strategy or its predecessor firm, Hambalt. Client confidentiality is absolute; cases are anonymised except where the work is already on the public record.