Guidance

Next steps for Heathrow Airport Limited and the Arora Group/Heathrow West Limited

Published 22 October 2025

Heathrow Expansion Team
Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London
SW1P 4DR

Dear promoter,

Thank you again for submitting your proposal to the department in July 2025 and for your presentations over the summer. The government’s clear objective is to enable the delivery of an operational third runway by 2035, with applications for planning consent coming forward in time to enable decisions to be made this Parliament.

As you are aware, we have been conducting an assessment process based on the Secretary of State for Transport’s letter to potential promoters of Heathrow expansion on 30 June 2025.

We are writing to provide you with an update on your proposal and provide clarity on the steps that government is taking to help facilitate the delivery of Heathrow expansion.

We received proposals from 7 organisations and these were jointly considered by officials from the Department for Transport (DfT) and His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) and expert financial and technical advisors. Five have been assessed as not suitable to inform the ANPS review, leaving the scheme promoted by the Arora Group/Heathrow West Limited and the scheme promoted by Heathrow Airport Limited as proposals that remain under active consideration.

We would like to provide as much clarity and certainty for communities as possible in carrying out the review of the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), including, in particular, reducing blight concerns and for users of Heathrow and investors, to avoid nugatory, costly work developing schemes with associated cost implications and ensure greater clarity for the airspace modernisation programme. We, therefore, intend to choose a single scheme to inform the remainder of the ANPS review and require additional information from both remaining promoters to make an informed decision.

To that end, we have today launched the start of the ANPS review, and we are writing to request further information and give you an opportunity to respond, prior to making a final decision on the single scheme as part of the ANPS review itself. We intend to announce this decision by the end of November 2025.

Elements of both schemes that need further information

We consider that there are elements of both schemes that require further information, as follows.

Integration with existing infrastructure

Please provide a detailed overview of:

• what aircraft you say will be able to operate from the new runway and whether there will be any operational restrictions on the aircraft

• whether all terminals will be able to access the new runway

• the proposed operational procedures of all three runways and how they will be able to provide the respite that is set out in the ANPS

• details of what external assurance and engagement you have undertaken to confirm that the necessary airspace will be able to be designed to meet the operational requirements and air traffic movements required in your proposal

• the number of ATMs and passengers you say the airport will be able to physically accommodate by year, both in a scenario where the proposal proceeds and in a counterfactual scenario without runway expansion

Land acquisition

Please provide information and maps which show the exact land required for delivery and the number of properties that are:

• impacted by your proposal (for example, from blight)

• require compulsory purchase, including the locations of all affected properties

Furthermore, please provide details of the engagement you have had with affected communities.

Financeability

Please provide a detailed overview of how the runway and supporting terminals will be financed, including a breakdown of debt and equity sources and insight from financial market engagement.

This should include:

• a breakdown of the key risks that most influence the scheme’s ability to be financed

• how capital markets are likely to perceive those risks

• the strategy used to manage them to ensure the scheme is wholly privately financed

Surface access

To minimise unnecessary disruption, please provide additional information regarding the construction of road schemes. In particular, we are requesting further detail on the timeline, level of anticipated disruption and mitigation during construction and the schemes’ overall impact on the road network (both for the Strategic Roads Network and local roads), including use of temporary road access and offline construction.

We require assurance of a promoter working with National Highways, Network Rail and Transport for London on their surface access schemes. We would also like to see a clear plan for the development of transport modelling.

Economic benefits

Please provide information outlining what you consider the economic benefits your scheme will bring and when these benefits will be realised. This should be appropriately evidenced and referenced.

Additional information

Please provide any other information not provided above that demonstrates why your scheme should be the single scheme to inform the next stage of the ANPS review and how your scheme will deliver an operational third runway by 2035, with applications for planning consent coming forward in time to enable decisions to be made this Parliament.

When considering the additional information, we intend to consider the following matters in particular:

1. The extent to which proposals will integrate with existing infrastructure as smoothly as possible.
2. The extent to which a proposal will require land acquisition and the extent to which it will cause blight.
3. The extent to which it has been demonstrated that the proposals are deliverable from a financing perspective.
4. The extent to which it has been demonstrated that surface access arrangements associated with the proposal are deliverable and minimise network disruption.
5. The extent of economic benefits that are expected from a particular proposal.

The next stage of the process is not about whether a particular scheme meets a set of criteria, but a direct comparison of each scheme, based on the response received to this letter, to inform a decision that can provide certainty, as early as possible, about the scheme in the now-launched ANPS review.

We will take into account the responses received to this letter to inform a decision that can provide certainty, as early as possible, about the scheme in the ANPS review.

Send this additional information by 12 November 2025 to: heathrowproposals@dft.gov.uk.

Progress in critical areas

We are pleased to be able to set out significant progress in critical areas supporting Heathrow expansion, aiming to provide confidence for programme mobilisation.

Today, we have launched a review of the ANPS to ensure any proposed third runway scheme aligns with climate, noise and air quality obligations and supports economic growth across the country.

On judicial reviews (JRs), as well as measures proposed in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill (PIB), we have announced that the government will work with the judiciary to cut the amount of time it takes for a JR to move through the court system for NPSs and NSIPs by around half a year, by implementing further procedural changes to ensure NSIP cases are dealt with more quickly and consistently. We will also consider designating expansion at Heathrow as Critical National Priority infrastructure.

The Department for Transport plans to consult on any ANPS revisions by July 2026, offering an opportunity for wider stakeholder engagement next summer.

As part of the review and any update of the ANPS, the government will publish an updated stakeholder engagement approach to ensure transparency, fairness and meaningful participation throughout the process in due course. This will provide clarity to stakeholders on how and when they can engage in the review process.

To support timely delivery, the government is also advancing reforms in airspace. These include establishing the UK airspace design service, updating airspace change processes and policy. Slot regulation reform is also planned to optimise benefits across Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton more widely.

On costs and regulation, the government will work with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to ensure efficient delivery and cost control, with a working paper expected alongside or shortly after our scheme decision is announced in November 2025, with the final approach confirmed by July 2026.

Further collaboration

Throughout this next phase of the assessment process, we are keen to continue to engage collaboratively with you, and once a single scheme has been confirmed, we will consider what engagement relationships can be entered into.

Thank you for taking the time to submit a proposal to the department and for your time in presenting your proposal to us. We look forward to engaging with you further.

Yours sincerely,

Heathrow Expansion Team

Department for Transport