Heathrow airport begins consultation on expansion

HEATHROW airport launched a 10-week public consultation on its proposed expansion on Wednesday, saying it would ask locals for their views on issues such as the rerouting of a major motorway near the airport and the length of a new, third runway.

Prime Minister Theresa May backed a $22 billion expansion of the London hub, which is the biggest airport in Europe, in October 2016, after decades of government indecision.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has said the government aims to give the go-ahead to the new runway in the first half of this year.

The expansion plan has been controversial, with critics highlighting the possible impact on air quality in London and noise levels in the local community, while airlines want the airport to keep costs down.

“Heathrow is consulting to ensure that we deliver benefits for our passengers, businesses across the country but also, importantly, for those neighbours closest to us,” Emma Gilthorpe, Heathrow’s Executive Director for expansion, said in a statement.

The consultation will work to deliver expansion while meeting strict environmental tests, the airport said, but will also ask for views on a proposal to move a short section of the London orbital M25 motorway 150 metres to the west.

The proposal would also lower the motorway by seven metres and put it in a tunnel so the runway can pass over it. Local residents will also be consulted on three options for the new runway and what the terminal infrastructure should be. Heathrow has pledged to keep costs down during the expansion, and said it had identified options to deliver the airport for £2.5 billion less than previous plans thanks to engagement over the last year.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways owner IAG, said Heathrow had to become cheaper for its expansion to succeed, in an article in the Financial Times earlier this week.