Heathrow has been granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court against a move to block its plan for a third runway.
Supreme Court judges have now said Heathrow can challenge a February ruling in the Court of Appeal which said the government’s airports policy was unlawful as it failed to take into account climate change commitments.
Heathrow’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye told a Transport Select Committee this week that he was no longer thinking about the expansion plans and that it would not be needed for 10-15 years as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hit demand for air travel.
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Heathrow has consolidated its operations to one runway and two of five terminals as travel restrictions imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19 have ground air travel to an almost halt.
Campaign group Heathrow Hub urged the airport to accept the expansion is not going to happen and said further legal challenges were a “waste of time and money”. It called for incremental and phased expansion via an extended Northern Runway instead.
Heathrow is yet to comment on the decision.
