Overview

• Ministers are conducting a review of the Airports National Policy Statement, which sets the approval criteria for Heathrow’s proposed £49 billion third runway.
• A coalition of sixteen university economics professors has formally disputed the expansion’s projected economic benefits, calling them “at best uncertain.”
• Experts argue that there is no viable plan to mitigate the environmental and health impacts of increased air traffic, putting the project at odds with the UK’s net zero by 2050 commitment.
• A poll of Independent readers shows 57 percent oppose the third runway, with critics warning it could deepen regional inequality and divert funding from broader infrastructure projects.
• Hotel developer Surinder Arora has backed a rival scheme for a shorter, lower-cost runway by Bechtel, intensifying the competition for airport capacity expansion.