- Third runway to be built by 2025
- 50pc more flights over London
The Westminster government has endorsed the recommendation of the Airports Commission to expand Heathrow rather than Gatwick airport and build a third runway by 2025.
A decision that a third runway will be built at Heathrow paves the way for hundreds of thousands more flights a year at the London airport. Opponents say this will bring new neighbourhoods under the flightpath.
The move comes six years after the Conservative-led coalition scrapped previous plans for a third runway at Heathrow.
The decision to grow Heathrow will be voted on by Engalnd’s parliament in 2017 or 2018. Under the airport’s proposed scheme, an additional runway and a sixth terminal will be built to the northwest of the existing airport perimeter at a cost of £17.6bn, brining capacity o er 100m and demolishing the nearby village of Harmondsworth.
Heathrow is the sixth busiest airport in the world with 75m passengers annually, behind Atlanta, Beijing, Dubai, Chicago, Tokyo and marginally ahead of LAX.
Widespread protests and legal challenges are expected to follow the decision, with campaigners expected to focus on air quality, noise and Britain’s climate change commitments.
