Government considers Heathrow expansion plans
Two privately financed rival proposals to expand the west London airport are being considered by the Government.
Hotel tycoon Surinder Arora's company has insisted its plan to build a third runway at Heathrow airport would provide a sufficient capacity boost and avoid disrupting the M4 motorway.
Two privately financed rival proposals to expand the west London airport are being considered by the Government.
Heathrow's owners want to build a full-length, 3,500-metre runway, which would involve diverting the M25, while Arora Group is seeking permission for a 2,800-metre runway, negating the need to move the motorway.
In response to a Government request for further details, Arora Group said as well as avoiding the M25, its Heathrow West scheme would also not require lowering the M4 spur carriageway.
Its submission stated that a 2,800-metre runway could be used by all aircraft types, and accommodate 99.3% of flights in a three-runway system.
The company said that under its proposal, Heathrow's annual capacity can exceed 756,000 flights, which is 16,000 above the level of a plan backed by the Airports Commission in 2015.
It added that at approximately £23 billion, the estimated cost of its plan is 30% less than that of Heathrow's owners, which would result in about "£10 billion in savings and translate to substantially lower charges for airlines and passengers".
By the end of this month, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander will announce the single scheme being taken forward to inform the remainder of her review of the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), which will provide the framework for making decisions on airport growth.
Mr Arora said: "This is a once-in-a-generation moment to finally deliver the expanded Heathrow that many in the airline and airport community have called for.
"As set out by the Secretary of State, expansion cannot mean turning 'the M25 into Europe's largest car park' and Heathrow West clearly demonstrates that it doesn't need to.
"We are especially delighted to also now confirm we can avoid disrupting the M4 as well as the M25 which further makes the case for our scheme when compared to the alternative.
"Now is the time for the Government to consider the two schemes and we look forward to further engagement."
Carlton Brown, chief executive of Heathrow West, said: "For too long Heathrow has blamed its 'central London location' and airline demands as a reason why the world's most expensive airport cannot be transformed into the world's best.
"We have shown that by bringing world-class delivery partners together, listening to the airline community, and learning from Heathrow's more successful peers around the world, we can deliver an alternative approach, without delay, to give this critical national infrastructure the transformation Britain deserves."
The partners include infrastructure company Bechtel, which has acted as a technical adviser.
The proposal from Heathrow's owners would require a new M25 tunnel and bridges to be built 130 metres to the west of the existing motorway.
Traffic would be switched to the new route during overnight closures.
Speaking at an aviation conference in Westminster last week, Heathrow's chief executive Thomas Woldbye said building a shorter runway would cost "almost the same" as a full-length version but deliver "much less capacity".
At the same event, British Airways' chief executive Sean Doyle said "if you can avoid moving the M25, you should", and "I think we should look at ways of potentially building a shorter runway".
Airlines have expressed concern at the impact on passenger charges from Heathrow expansion.
Meanwhile it's being reported a former BT chief executive is lined up to be the next boss of Heathrow.
Philip Jansen's going to be named as the aviation hub's chairman this month.