LONDON (Reuters) -London’s Heathrow Airport will submit its proposal for a third runway this summer, the chief executive of the hub said, weeks after the British government threw its weight behind the project citing its potential to boost trade and economic growth.
In a bid to secure national support, the Heathrow boss, Thomas Woldbye, said on Wednesday that a third runway would benefit the wider economy by using domestically produced steel where possible and local manufacturers.
The government welcomed the announcement, made at British Steel Scunthorpe in northern England, as a potential boost for an industry that is facing tariffs from the United States.
Woldbye called Heathrow “fundamental” to the government’s growth mission, saying its expansion would benefit suppliers across the country.
“It’s a choice between jobs here in the UK or jobs elsewhere in Europe,” he said of the decision over whether or not to back the new runway.
The government said the pledge on steel would help secure thousands of jobs.
Successive British governments have dithered for decades over whether to expand Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest hubs, caught between the need to grow, costs and environmental concerns.
Woldbye confirmed that the new runway would be entirely privately funded, although he did not give an estimate for the final bill apart from saying it would “significantly” increase from the 14 billion pound cost in 2014.
He said the airport would start a separate project to improve infrastructure and add capacity this year, benefitting the economy with billions of pounds of investment over the next 8 to 12 years, before the new runway is built.
Heathrow will consult stakeholders including airlines and local communities before finalising the plan, and the airport said the project will only go ahead if it can meet rules on noise, air quality and emissions.
British Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who has pushed for growth since her Labour party came to power last July, has said she wants to see permission being granted by the end of this parliament in 2029.
Woldbye said a third runway could be operational by 2035.
However, even with the government’s support, the plan – one of the country’s most controversial infrastructure projects – has numerous hurdles to overcome before construction can start, including how it would be financed.
Heathrow is operating at 99% capacity and risks being overtaken by European rivals. Its two runways compare with four each in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt Airport, and six at Amsterdam’s Schiphol.
Financial investors France’s Ardian, Qatar Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund are amongst Heathrow’s owners.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony and Sarah Young; Editing by Ros Russell, Louise Heavens and Bernadette| Baum)
