RIVAL plans for the multi-billion pound expansion of London Heathrow Airport have been revealed – with a much shorter third runway.
Surinder Arora – behind the Arora Group who are a major landowner of Heathrow – submitted his own designs for the massive airport upgrade.
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Called ‘Heathrow West,’ the £25billion plans are being developed with infrastructure company Bechtel, who were also behind major projects such as the Elizabeth Line, Channel Tunnel and expansions of both London City and London Gatwick.
The biggest change to the addition of the third runway would be making it much smaller – being just 2,800 metres rather than 3,500.
Being smaller, it would mean the airport would not need to divert the M25 under the current plans, which will cost billions and result in traffic chaos.
The new runway could be operational as soon as 2035.
Read more on airport plans
The rival plans also include a new terminal – dubbed T6 – which would open in a first phase by 2036, will a full opening by 2040.
Mr Arora – who also owns Heathrow hotels such as Sofitel, Crowne Plaza and Hilton Garden Inn – said: “I am proud to unveil the Heathrow West proposal which meets the UK’s ambition to grow its only hub airport while delivering on time and on budget.
“The Government’s decision to invite competition rather than hand exclusivity to the incumbent is common sense – and we’re ready to deliver.”
He added: “The Arora Group has a proven track record of delivering on-time and on-budget projects including in and around Heathrow airport.”
With estimated costs of £25billion, this is much cheaper than what is expected of London Heathrow’s plans.
The last estimate from Heathrow was in 2014, with a cost of £14million – although experts have said this could be closer to £47.5billion in today’s prices.
London Heathrow invited rival plans last month, with a deadline of July 31.
The airport is set to submit their own plans later today.
The addition of a third runway was backed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves earlier this year.
However, Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan raised concerns, to do with the local environment.
There are also fears of more expensive flights with the new runway, with the airport asking for the landing fees to be increased to cover the costs.
Currently set at £23.73, this will drop by 2p next year, with the fee passed on from airline to passenger.
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However, easyJet CEO Kenton Jarvis backed the plans, and even suggested they could launch from their.
He previously said: “When it comes to Heathrow, I’ve always thought Heathrow would fit our network of primary airports with great catchment areas.
“It would be a unique opportunity to operate from Heathrow at scale – because obviously right now it’s slot-constrained – and give us an opportunity to provide lower fares for UK consumers that currently at Heathrow just have the option of flag carriers.
“It fits with our network, we’re present at all the other major European airports like Schiphol, Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Geneva.”
In the mean time, here are some other airports undergoing major expansions including London Stansted Airport, costing £1.1billion with a £600million new terminal.
Manchester Airport is undergoing a £1.3billion renovation.
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