There hasn’t been a new full-length runway built in the South East of England since the 1940s.
Heathrow has tried – and failed – to build a third runway before. Now it’s trying again.
“The airport is full,” said Thomas Woldbye, Heathrow’s chief executive, “and that is to the detriment of the UK economy.”
As Woldbye admits, the third runway project was considered dead and buried when he joined Heathrow 18 months ago.
But the general election in July changed everything.
Labour has since thrown its weight behind airport expansion as part of its wider plan to revive economic growth.
Heathrow’s proposal involves demolishing hundreds of homes to the northwest of the airport and rerouting the M25 between junctions 14 and 15, through a tunnel under the new runway.
The airport would also build a new terminal and additional stands, expand Terminal 2, and close Terminal 3.
Heathrow says the project is “shovel-ready” and would:
Increase flight capacity to 756,000 a year, up from 480,000
Allow the airport to handle up to 150 million passengers, up from 84 million
Create up to 40,000 permanent jobs, up from 80,000 currently working at Heathrow
Add 0.43% to GDP by 2050 -or £17.1 billion in economic value
Give passengers more choice, better reliability, and lower fares
The total price tag is £49 billion, including terminals and supporting infrastructure.
Heathrow said its runway and airfield plan would be privately funded at a cost of £21 billion.
In 2018, Heathrow estimated the runway cost at £14 billion. The airport now says construction inflation explains the jump.
Heathrow insists the project can be delivered without financial support from the government.
There will be an environmental cost too – more emissions, more noise, more traffic – but the airport claims these can be mitigated.
If the project is approved, Woldbye says legal limits on air quality, carbon, and noise will be set and met.
“The world wants to fly,” he says. “It is not our job to tell people not to fly. Our job is to convert flying to green.”
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