The wheels are coming off the 3rd Runway, Boris Johnson should announce an urgent review

Heathrow Airport Ltd has today confirmed that its £37.7 billion 3rd Runway project is effectively delayed, blaming the CAA for capping early spending, which it says “has prolonged the construction period of a new third runway and means Heathrow will need to undertake refreshed modelling of key aspects of the plan – including public transport to and from the airport.”

Heathrow Airport Ltd also announced today that there will be another consultation on costs, between April and June 2020, committing to a planning application towards the end of the year.

Jock Lowe, of Heathrow Hub, the cheaper, independent alternative proposal to extend the existing northern runway, said: “We always said that the rising costs of the complicated 3rd Runway Plan would be a disaster, and so it has proved.

“The Department for Transport failed to adequately consider costs when it approved the 3rd Runway. But rising costs will inevitably fall on passengers and airlines via higher passenger fees at Heathrow, which are already the highest in the world. There is also a risk that taxpayers will have to foot the bill for billions of pounds of rail and road improvements.”

“We have written to Grant Shapps, the secretary of state, to ask him and the Prime Minister to launch an urgent review into the 3rd Runway. Our extended runway proposal – which at only £4.7 billion for phase one is a fraction of the cost – is the only viable alternative which has been through the Airports Commission process and is capable of meeting environmental targets.”

“Heathrow expansion, done incrementally and with due consideration to environmental issues, is vital for the economy, to benefit passengers and to improve the resilience of the airport. The irony is that Heathrow Airport Ltd itself has made such a mess of it.”

Heathrow Hub is awaiting a judgement from the Court of Appeal on the Government’s decision to support Heathrow Airport’s 3rd Runway plan.