Heathrow Airport's third runway may be delayed to 2039

Heathrow Airport has warned that its planned third runway could be delayed by four years owing to planning and regulatory hurdles. The government had originally aimed for the new runway at the United Kingdom’s busiest airport to open by 2035, with an estimated cost of £49 billion. Heathrow now says meeting that target is increasingly difficult without further streamlining of the planning process, adding that it hopes to secure planning consent by 2029 and then open the runway “within a decade”. The Department for Transport described the timeline as “always been ambitious” and pledged to continue working with stakeholders “at pace”. The airport reiterated that its “core scenario” has always been to have a new runway operational within ten years of obtaining planning permission. It welcomed the chancellor’s moves to cut red tape and ease regulatory bottlenecks, promising to work with ministers, airlines and other parties to “progress the planning application with pace”. Former chancellor Rachel Reeves announced governmental backing for the scheme in January 2025. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who had previously been critical, said he was “open‑minded” about the proposal upon taking office. Although the plan has drawn strong opposition from environmental groups and local residents near the airport, officials estimate it would generate roughly 100,000 jobs and provide a substantial boost to the economy. The expansion would require the demolition of hundreds of homes, the diversion of several rivers, and the rerouting of the M25 between junctions 14 and 15 through a tunnel beneath the new runway. Currently limited to 480,000 flights per year, Heathrow’s capacity could increase to 720,000 annually – about 2,000 flights a day on average. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has consistently opposed the project, citing concerns over noise, air pollution and climate change. A public consultation on the expansion was released in June of this year; once finalised, it must be submitted to a parliamentary vote, a step that could be postponed until 2027.