Heathrow boss calls for urgency over third runway 

The government has been urged to move faster if Heathrow is to meet a 2029 deadline to start building a third runway.  

 

Thomas Woldbye, chief executive of the London hub, called on ministers to introduce new rules to speed up planning approval, as the airport confirmed today (Thursday) that it had begun work on a formal application for the £33 billion project.  

 

He said in a statement: “Heathrow expansion is a critical national project and a central part of our journey to make Heathrow an extraordinary airport, fit for the future.

 

“Maintaining momentum will mean the CAA [Civil Aviation Authority] and ministers remain focussed on securing the benefits of the project by meeting vital milestones in 2026 that are essential to enabling the next phase of delivery.”

 

Woldbye told the Financial Times: “As I said to the chancellor when we started, we have to look at doing things differently. If we do it the way we have always done it we’ll probably get the same result [of long delays].

 

“A government infrastructure and planning bill is coming. We would hope more is coming our way which would make it easier, make a real difference to the timelines.

 

“There is stuff that can be done. It’s all within the realistic bounds of possibility, but it needs to be done.”  

 

The UK’s biggest airport said it had started work on a planning application for the third runway project after ministers last year approved its proposal, which involves moving part of the M25 London orbital motorway.  

 

Outstanding issues include long-term regulation that will determine how much of its construction costs Heathrow will be allowed to recoup from airlines, and parliamentary approval of the ANPS. 

 

Clarity is required from the CAA this spring on how early costs can be recovered, Heathrow said.

 

The DfT will publish the draft Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) over the summer and the CAA will decide on the long-term regulatory model which will determine if private investment will be forthcoming. 

 

Parliament will be asked to decide on the final ANPS in the autumn – a decision which will set the planning framework for the project and put the UK on course for first flights from a third runway in a decade, according to Heathrow.

 

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has set a timeline of starting construction work by 2029, the expected date of the next general election. 

 

The third runway is due to be operational by the mid-2030s but many hurdles have yet to be overcome.

 

Woldbye said ministers “have done more than ever before and in a shorter time . . . We need to keep that speed, and we need government authorities to be 100% aligned.” 

 

The airport would start increasing its team on the project, even though it was waiting on several official approvals that would take months, he added.  

 

“If we don’t get going now we cannot protect that [2029] deadline,” Woldbye told the FT. “We do that with quite some risk - lots of stuff has not been cleared yet - that needs to be determined.”  

 

The costs of funding Heathrow’s planning approval would run into the hundreds of millions of pounds and could be immediately financed by its cash flows, he added. 

 

The airport has said it will fund the entire project privately, although airlines have warned that costs will ultimately be borne by passengers through higher landing charges.

 

Heathrow has estimated that the runway will cost £21 billion, with another £12 billion to be spent on new infrastructure including a new terminal. 

 

The amounts are on top of £15 billion planned for modernising the current airport including expanding Terminal 2 and ultimately closing Terminal 3.

 

Airlines have warned that any cost overruns in the expansion programme may make the airport too expensive.