Heathrow expansion plan is being revived, reveals CEO

Larger planes will be used to boost capacity in the meantime

- SIMON CALDER

Heathrow airport’s chief executive says plans for a third runway are being “revived” – while in the short term, bigger planes will extract more capacity from the world’s most overstretched pair of runways. Thomas Woldbye was speaking to The Independent after announcing record-breaking passenger numbers for Heathrow – which is by far the UK’s busiest airport.

In the six months between January and June, 39.8 million passengers travelled through Heathrow – one million more than during the first half of 2019, before the pandemic.

Heathrow is the busiest two-runway airport in the world, with a cap of 1,315 movements per day. Demand is so strong that, in 2019, 99.15 per cent of that capacity was used. Successive governments have given the green light to a third runway at Heathrow, though plans for expansion continue to be subject to legal challenges. But the airport’s chief executive believes such obstacles will be overcome.