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Heathrow airport expansion proposals

In January 2025 the government said it would support proposals for a third runway at Heathrow airport. The then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said:

a third runway at Heathrow would unlock further growth, boost investment, increase exports, and make the UK more open and more connected as part of our Plan for Change.

The government invited the airport to bring forward expansion proposals “by the summer”, noting that any expansion must be delivered “in line with the UK’s legal, climate, and environmental obligations”.

Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL), the company that operates the airport, told the BBC that a third runway at Heathrow could mean an increase from 75 million passengers per annum (mppa) to around 140 mppa. It is not yet clear what the impact may be in terms of additional greenhouse gas emissions, noise and air pollution.

In summer 2025 both HAL and the Arora Group (primarily a hotel developer), announced plans to submit proposals for expanding Heathrow Airport. After review, on 25 November 2025, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander MP, set out in a written statement to Parliament that HAL’s proposal was the governments preferred option.

Planning process

A project as big as Heathrow expansion would need to follow the planning process for a nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP). This means that instead of being determined by a local planning authority, planning permissions would be granted by central government, via a development consent order. This would ultimately need to be determined by the Secretary of State for Transport, following examination by the government’s Planning Inspectorate.

For certain types of national infrastructure development there are National Policy Statements (NPSs) in place. An NPS sets out the policy rationale and ‘need’ for a development and the criteria that the relevant Secretary of State uses to assess an application for a development consent order.

For Heathrow, there is such an NPS: the Airport National Policy Statement (ANPS), which was designated as government policy in 2018 following a vote in the House of Commons. This gave provisional support for a new north-west runway at Heathrow.

On 22 October 2025, the Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander MP formally launched a review of the ANPS in an oral statement to Parliament, setting out that the revised NPS would reflect any changes in legislation, policy and data since the ANPS was designated.

On 18 June 2026 the Department for Transport (DfT) published the draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement (HENPS), which does not give planning permission for a third runway to be built, but provides a framework for how expansion might be implemented. A public consultation on the Draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement proposed amendments was also launched on 18 June 2026, and closed on 1 September.

The Transport Committee also began holding evidence sessions on the draft HENPS in September 2026, who began holding evidence sessions in September 2026. 

Reaction to announcement

Airlines UK, the trade body for UK registered airlines, welcomed the government’s announcement on Heathrow expansion. The Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, has said she would support expansion, as have a range of business groups and sections of the travel industry.

Environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth said they opposed expansion as it would further contribute to climate change. The government has said that, according to its analysis, it can achieve net zero aviation by 2050 without intervening to limit airport expansion.

Some airlines and Heathrow-based businesses have expressed concern that HAL already charges them high fees (including landing charges and fees for parking and access to utilities) and that the costs of building a new runway will mean these fees may rise and be passed onto passengers and customers.

In September 2026 the HENPS was publicly criticised by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan who published an ‘Overview of concerns’ (PDF) which described “fundamental deficiencies in the strategic case for Heathrow expansion.”

Further information

Further background on previous plans to expand Heathrow can be found in the Library briefings on Heathrow Airport (2018) and Expansion of Heathrow Airport (2009).

Further information on UK Government plans to reduce aviation's contribution to climate change can be found in the Library briefing on Aviation and climate change (2025)