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Heathrow unveils plans for long-debated expansion

Aug 1, 2025, 8:17am EDT
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A plane prepares ahead of taking-off.
Jack Taylor/Reuters

London’s Heathrow airport unveiled “shovel-ready” plans for its long-debated third runway, which it hopes it can have operating within 10 years.

Heathrow is Europe’s busiest travel hub, but is running at capacity, which the project’s proponents say causes bottlenecks for UK growth. The new runway and an accompanying sixth terminal would boost annual passenger throughput from 84 million to 150 million although opponents are concerned about environmental impacts, and myriad veto points in the British zoning system can cripple infrastructure plans.

A high-speed rail line running north from London is years behind schedule and double the original budget, while the application for a road tunnel under the Thames ran to 350,000 pages and cost £300 million before the plan was even approved.

A chart showing the world’s busiest airports, by total passengers processed.
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