The expansion of Heathrow Airport is expected to be welcomed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Wednesday, after years of heated debate. The move, alongside confirmation of the expansion of other London airports including Gatwick and Luton, is likely to be met by fierce opposition. Critics say increasing air travel would make it much harder for the UK to meet its climate change commitments. However, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has told the BBC: “Sustainable aviation and economic growth go hand in hand.”
Heathrow is already the UK’s busiest airport, serving more than 80 million travellers a year with its four passenger terminals and two runways. A third runway would mean demolishing hundreds of homes, diverting rivers, and rerouting the M25 motorway between junctions 14 and 15 through a tunnel under the new runway. The number of flights, currently capped at 480,000 a year, could go up to 720,000 – or nearly 2,000 a day on average. Heathrow told the BBC that it would eventually be able to serve up to 140 million passengers a year once the third runway is in operation.
The airport’s owners, which include Saudi Arabia and Qatar’s sovereign wealth funds and private equity firm Ardian, said the costs of expansion would be met by charging airlines for use of the larger airport. However, after years of wrangling over the original plans, the initial cost estimate of £14bn will need to be revised.
Even with government backing, the formal planning process could take up to two years. Any planning decision could then be subject to a judicial review, as well as needing to answer questions from opponents over environmental concerns. Local authorities and nearby residents will also have questions. After all that, construction is expected to take another six or seven years.
A third runway was first proposed by Gordon Brown’s Labour government in 2009 but was only finally given the go-ahead by the Supreme Court in 2020. Several members of the current government, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, voted against a Heathrow expansion when in opposition. However, recently, there have been hints the Labour government would back a third runway. Starmer told the BBC that the government has climate commitments, “but growth is really important too.” Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “Any aviation expansion will only be able to go ahead if it is consistent with our carbon budgets”.
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