PLANS for a third runway at Heathrow Airport are likely to hit holidaymakers with more expensive flights.
The major expansion – which has been discussed since 2009 – is expected to be backed by Rachel Reeves later this week.
Flights could cost more if the Heathrow third runway is given the go ahead[/caption]
What the Heathrow expansion could look like (images from 2019)[/caption]
And airport bosses have since asked for the cap on landing fees to be increased, to cover the cost of the expansion.
The latest figures suggest it could cost as much as £20billion to add a third runway to Heathrow.
The current landing fee cap is enforced by the Civil Aviation Authority and is set over five years.
This years landing charges are £23.73 per passenger, and set to decrease to £23.71 in 2026, although is still higher than the £19 pre pandemic.
Paid by airlines, the cost is passed onto passengers who pay for it in their flights.
An airport source told The Times they were “looking at the recovery timeline” for the third runway and how to cover costs over the next few decades.
They explained: “Currently our regulatory settlement is a five-year period, but maybe you could hive off the expansion project and get recovery over 30 years, so that the impact on passengers is reduced.”
However, with more flights comes more competitive fares, so fares could be able to remain constant.
Concerns over the Heathrow expansion has been raised by a number of MPs including Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband and London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, regarding environmental worries.
Despite this, Reeves said the expansion would see fewer planes circling London as they attempted to land, which would mean cleaner air.
And airline bosses have praised the decision.
EasyJet CEO Kenton Jarvis said: “When it comes to Heathrow, I’ve always thought Heathrow would fit our network of primary airports with great catchment areas.
“It would be a unique opportunity to operate from Heathrow at scale – because obviously right now it’s slot-constrained – and give us an opportunity to provide lower fares for UK consumers that currently at Heathrow just have the option of flag carriers.
“It fits with our network, we’re present at all the other major European airports like Schiphol, Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Geneva.”
London Heathrow Airport reported a record 83.9million passengers using the airport last year.
However, the airport is near to reaching its capacity of 480,000 flights a year (working out to 1,300 a day).
The expansion would allow this to increase to 720,000 a year.
Along with London Heathrow’s third runway, an expanded second runway at London Gatwick as also been backed.
Top 15 busiest airports in the UK
Here are the 15 busiest airports in the UK by passenger numbers in 2023
- London Heathrow – 79.2 million
- London Gatwick – 40.9 million
- Manchester – 28.1 million
- London Stansted – 28.0 million
- London Luton – 16.4 million
- Edinburgh – 14.4 million
- Birmingham – 11.5 million
- Bristol – 9.9 million
- Glasgow – 7.4 million
- Belfast International – 6.0 million
- Newcastle – 4.8 million
- Liverpool – 4.2 million
- Leeds Bradford – 4.0 million
- East Midlands – 3.9 million
- London City – 3.4 million
If given the go-ahead, it will allow it to be used for passenger flights, as it is currently in operation for training and emergencies only.
And London Luton Airport’s expansion could allow double the passenger capacity.
The expansion will allow up to 240,000 additional flights a year[/caption]
