LONDON (Reuters) -Britain backed Heathrow Airport Limited’s 49 billion pound ($64 billion) plan as the basis for expanding the country’s biggest hub, a statement from the government said on Tuesday, choosing it over a cheaper option.
The decision comes after the government said in January it wanted a new runway built at Heathrow, hoping the huge infrastructure project will help drive economic growth, in a move which ends decades of indecision over the airport’s future.
Heathrow Airport’s own plan was being considered alongside an alternative put forward by Arora Group, which owns land and hotels around the airport, and which had estimated a 21 billion pound price tag, although that did not include all development costs.
The government said it backed Heathrow’s plan as it was the “most deliverable option” and provides the greatest likelihood of being granted development consent, or planning permission, by 2029, the end of the current parliament.
Heathrow Airport, owned by France’s Ardian, Qatar Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has estimated a total bill of 49 billion pounds to build the new runway and move a section of London’s M25 orbital motorway.
Located west of London, Heathrow is Europe’s busiest airport and operates at full capacity. Its two runways compare with four each in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt Airport, and six at Amsterdam’s Schiphol.
($1 = 0.7620 pounds)
(Reporting by Sarah Young, editing by Andy Bruce and James Davey)
