'Shovel Ready' Heathrow Third Runway Could Be Built in a Decade
Sponsor of rival plan says its scheme is less costly and disruptive
Heathrow Airport's visualisation of its proposal
August 1, 2025
Two rival proposals to expand Heathrow Airport have been submitted to the UK Government, reigniting a long-running national debate about the economic benefits and environmental consequences of adding a third runway to Britain’s busiest airport.
Heathrow Airport Limited unveiled its £49 billion "shovel-ready" expansion plan this week, promising to deliver a full-length 3,500-metre runway and new terminal capacity within a decade, provided the Government introduces necessary policy reforms and a supportive regulatory framework. In response, hotel tycoon Surinder Arora’s Arora Group entered the fray with a rival “Heathrow West” scheme featuring a shorter, cheaper runway that would avoid rerouting the M25 motorway.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander welcomed the submissions, stating, “I am pleased to have received the initial Heathrow expansion proposals — a significant step towards unlocking growth, creating jobs, and delivering vital national infrastructure to drive forward our Plan for Change.”
The Heathrow proposal includes a new north-west runway and a brand-new terminal complex, dubbed T5X, with expanded public transport links, modernised facilities, and more than 276,000 additional flights per year — taking the total to 756,000 annually. The airport says this would allow it to handle up to 150 million passengers a year and serve at least 30 new destinations.
Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye described the plan as a “national mission for economic growth” and said, “It has never been more important or urgent to expand Heathrow. We are effectively operating at capacity to the detriment of trade and connectivity. With a green light from Government and the correct policy support underpinned by a fit-for-purpose regulatory model, we are ready to mobilise and start investing this year in our supply chain across the country.”
Heathrow says the expansion would be 100% privately financed, supporting tens of thousands of new jobs and adding 0.43% to the UK’s GDP, with 60% of the economic impact occurring outside London and the South East.
But the scale of the expansion raises fresh concerns about its environmental and social impact. With nearly 2,000 flights a day under the full plan, communities in west and south-west London could face increased aircraft noise and more night flights. Although Heathrow claims that its noise footprint has already shrunk by 41% since 2006 and that “a third runway and redesigned airspace will give communities and passengers more certainty and reliability on flight paths,” campaigners and local residents remain unconvinced.
Paul McGuinness, Chair of the No 3rd Runway Coalition, said, “Heathrow’s expansion plans seem to have reverted to the failed, impossible proposals of yesteryear — increasing its size with new hotels, hangars, car parks and a runway by an area that is larger than Birmingham International Airport, to fly as many extra planes as Gatwick currently flies. Bulldozing local villages to build the UK’s second-largest airport next to the largest, to bring noise blight to millions.”
The Coalition also warned of potential public cost exposure, highlighting that “ratings agents have already said that Heathrow would struggle to raise even half of the £48bn required to fund the project, given the airport’s current debt burden.”
In a first for Heathrow expansion, Heathrow’s owners now face a competing bid. Surinder Arora, one of the airport’s largest private landowners, has submitted his “Heathrow West” plan developed in partnership with Bechtel, promising to deliver a shorter 2,800-metre runway and a new terminal phased in over several years, all for under £25 billion.
Arora’s scheme avoids the controversial plan to tunnel the M25 between junctions 14 and 15, which was part of Heathrow’s original design.
“The primary benefit of our plan is a shorter new runway which would avoid the costly and disruptive need to divert the M25,” the company said, adding that it would also “reduce risk” and avoid “spiralling cost.”
A visualisation from Aurora of its plan for the airport
Mr Arora stated, “After a decade working with our world-leading design and delivery team, I am very proud that the Arora Group can finally unveil to the UK government our Heathrow West proposal. We are delighted that the government has taken a common-sense approach to invite proposals from all interested parties for the very first time rather than granting exclusivity to the current airport operator.”
The Arora Group insists the shorter runway could handle aircraft of all sizes, but industry observers say it may still limit long-haul capacity and pose challenges in securing airline support.
Carlton Brown, CEO of Heathrow West, said, “Ultimately, I want to see Heathrow help Britain become the best-connected nation in the world and facilitate the trade and inward investment our UK economy needs.”
Business leaders and trade bodies across the UK have broadly welcomed Heathrow’s expansion bid. Kenton Jarvis, CEO of easyJet, said, “Expansion at Heathrow will provide consumer and economic benefits and represents a unique opportunity for easyJet to operate from the airport at scale for the first time and bring with it lower fares for consumers.”
But environmental groups remain opposed. Dr Douglas Parr, Policy Director for Greenpeace UK, criticised the proposals saying, “The government has decided yet again to prioritise more leisure opportunities for a comparatively small group of frequent fliers, whilst the rest of us have to live with the consequences of their disproportionate polluting. No expansion should take place until the proposed technical fixes to the pollution problem are more than just hopeful marketing spin.”
The Government will now assess both proposals and begin a review of the Airports National Policy Statement later this year. Heathrow is aiming to consult with the public and key stakeholders from 2026 and submit a formal planning application by 2028.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has already backed expansion in principle, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has indicated that “growth is really important too,” despite previously opposing the third runway.
Still, with legal challenges from environmentalists and local authorities likely — and ongoing concerns about noise, night flights, and funding — the road ahead remains turbulent.
Whether the Government backs Heathrow’s expansive plan or opts for Arora’s leaner alternative, the decisions made in the coming months will shape the UK’s aviation future — and the lives of millions under the flight path — for decades to come.
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