London’s Heathrow Airport will submit its proposal to the UK government for a third runway this summer, confirmed the airports chief executive officer, Thomas Woldbye. This announcement by the airport boss comes just weeks after UK chancellor Rachel Reeves backed plans for a new runway at the European hub.
Woldbye confirmed that Heathrow will receive a multi-billion-pound investment, the largest private investment program in the airport’s history. He stated that the funding will allow upgrades to existing infrastructure, terminal buildings and an enhancement of the passenger experience.
The infrastructure plans, which were announced at British Steel Scunthorpe in northern England, will use domestically produced steel where possible and local manufacturers.
These new investments build on the £2.3bn ($2.8bn) accelerated investment announced by Heathrow in December 2024 to improve the airport through multiple projects over the next two years.
In a speech on January 29, 2025, Reeves confirmed the government's support for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, emphasising its importance for enhancing the UK's connectivity and economic growth, something which the Labour party has promoted since coming into power in July 2024.
She stated that planning permission should be granted by the end of the current parliament in 2029, with the runway becoming operational by the mid-2030s.
This announcement comes just days after a consortium of representative bodies and airlines urged the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to conduct a fundamental review into the regulatory framework of Heathrow Airport.
The Heathrow Airline Operators’ Committee (Heathrow AOC), Arora Group, International Airlines Group (IAG), and Virgin Atlantic announced the “Heathrow Reimagined: A Better Hub for Britain” campaign, which argues that Heathrow Airport Limited’s market position has led to spending inefficiently, meaning the airport has acted against the interest of both consumers and airlines, claiming the airport is not “fit for purpose”.
Despite this, Heathrow recorded an increase in passenger traffic of 5% during January, when compared to figures recorded during the same month of 2024.
The airport handled 6.3 million passengers during the month, with over 1.2 million passengers travelling between the UK and US alone, up 8% compared to the year prior. January was also the eleventh month in a row where the airport handled an average of over 200,000 passengers per day.
With plans for a third runway to be operational within the next decade, Heathrow anticipates the expansion could accommodate up to 140 million passengers annually. In 2024, the airport handled 83.9 million passengers.
Additionally, a recent study from Frontier Economics, states that a third runway could increase UK GDP by 0.43% by 2050.