Heathrow boss calls for Burnham to get behind third runway scheme

Thomas Woldbye warned its owners ‘cannot wait forever’ for the Prime Minister’s backing for its third runway plans (PA)PA WireDavid Hughes2 minutes agoNews Briefings

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The boss of Heathrow has hit out at the uncertainty over the airport’s planned expansion after Andy Burnham declined to back the scheme.

Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said he hoped the Prime Minister will throw his weight behind the scheme, adding “it would be good to know where Government is on this”.

He warned that investment could be lost overseas without a firm commitment to the construction of a new runway.

Andy Burnham has refused to confirm his support for a third runway (PA)PA WireBefore Mr Burnham entered No 10, predecessor Sir Keir Starmer and then-chancellor Rachel Reeves had backed the construction of a third runway at the UK’s busiest airport.

But Mr Burnham has refused to confirm his support, saying it is subject to a consultation and then the planning process.

Mr Woldbye told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “The most important thing here is what this project delivers for the UK, and I think seeing that, I hope the Prime Minister will come along.”

He said it will provide a “huge economic boost” and offer opportunities such as apprenticeships, which correspond with “the priorities that this Government has set out”.

Mr Woldbye said the process is “ongoing”, adding: “When we get to the end of those processes, which will be sometimes towards the end of the year, it would be good to know where Government is on this.”

He warned that the planned investment in the £33 billion 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 said.

Heathrow expects to submit a formal planning application “in the next couple of years”, he said.

“Right now the discussion with by far most of the people I speak to is not so much about if we’re going to do this, but more how we’re going to do it and get all the factors right.

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“I hope we can stay on that path because I think it is really, really important for the UK to get this project built.”

Giving evidence to MPs later, Mr Woldbye said: “There’s nothing of the size of Heathrow, and there’s nothing of the size of Heathrow that has the country-wide, UK-wide positive consequences.

“Sixty percent of the economic benefit of a runway at Heathrow will be felt throughout the entire country. If you compare that with other projects, I don’t think that is the case.”

He added the expansion was not just about a third runway “it is about renewing the entire airport and getting an airport that this country actually deserves”.