Heathrow Airport risks becoming a “ghost town” if the Government presses ahead with a third runway scheme which is unaffordable, MPs have been warned.
The Commons Transport Committee was hearing evidence on Wednesday on the expansion plans for the west London airport.
There are two rival blueprints for a third runway, one proposed by Heathrow and a second by a consortium called Heathrow West, a subsidiary of the Arora Group.
Two rival schemes for expansion
Heathrow Airport’s proposal is for a £33 billion scheme for a 3,500-metre new runway, rising to £49 billion once terminal and other improvements are included.
Heathrow West is pushing a shorter runway, initially 2,400 metres at a cost of less than £25 billion, with its concept crucially not involving moving the M25 at a cost of £1.5 billion.
Giving evidence to the committee, Surinder Arora, Heathrow West’s chairman, said: “At the end of the day, any scheme has to be affordable.
“If it's not affordable, then people won't use the airport. The airlines won't come in and be able to afford to come into Heathrow.
‘What we can't do is build something, and we are three, four times the price of Schipol or Charles de Gaulle or other airports.
“Then it would become a ghost town.”
Airlines warn of higher ticket prices
Airlines say Heathrow Airport’s plan would be the most expensive new runway project ever, with passengers having to pick up a large chunk of the bill through higher ticket prices.
Heathrow West does not believe the economic case currently stacks up for expanding its proposed 2,400-metre runway to 2,800 which could happen under its plans, but it might be affordable in future years.
However, Heathrow Airport’s chief executive Thomas Woldbye has dismissed the rival scheme as "not providing the capacity that we and the airlines need".
Political backing in doubt
Sir Keir Starmer’s Government had fully backed expanding the west London airport.
But new Prime Minister Andy Burnham cast huge doubt over whether his administration would support it, refusing five times in a recent interview to say that it would do so.
As part of his devolution agenda, he has stressed the importance of London’s view of a bigger Heathrow.
Mayor of London Lord Sadiq Khan has for years firmly opposed the new runway, which would increase the west London airport’s capacity to 756,000 flights and 150 million passengers a year.
Before appearing in front of the committee, Mr Woldbye said he hoped the Prime Minister would throw his weight behind the scheme, adding “it would be good to know where Government is on this”.
He warned that the planned investment in the scheme could go overseas unless there is certainty.
“Our private investors, if they cannot invest in Heathrow which they own, they don’t own any other airports in the UK, and there is no project like a Heathrow expansion, then that money will be invested somewhere else in the world, maybe in a motorway in Spain or a hospital in Italy,” he explained.
Heathrow expects to submit a formal planning application “in the next couple of years”, he added.
