Overview
- The Civil Aviation Authority, which announced the decision on Wednesday, authorised Heathrow Airport Limited to recover up to £320 million spent on planning and design for a proposed third runway.
- A rival scheme led by Surinder Arora, Heathrow West, was permitted to reclaim about £4.1 million for costs it incurred before the government selected HAL’s plan.
- The regulator said the recoveries will be collected through higher airport charges that are typically passed to passengers and estimated to add about 15p per passenger in 2028 rising to roughly 30p in later years with repayment spread over an estimated 20 to 25 years.
- The CAA imposed caps, independent scrutiny and efficiency reviews on the recoverable sums and opened a separate process to decide how costs incurred from 2027 onward while it conducts a wider review of Heathrow’s regulatory model.
- Airlines and campaign groups warned the move risks making Heathrow more costly and could prompt legal or political challenges, and the project still faces planning hurdles with a government timetable aiming for a planning decision by about 2029 and operations targeted around 2035.