Heathrow reveals options for third runway

Heathrow bosses want to more than double its annual passenger count from 70 million to 130 million, and increase the number of flights from 480,000 to 740,000 a year.

All three of the plans, announced this morning, would involve compulsory purchases and the demolition of hundreds of properties, with the most severe leading to the demolition of 2,700 houses affecting three nearby villages.

Two of the plans would require the construction of a new Terminal 6, while one would involve putting part of the M25 into a tunnel.

Despite the planned increase in capacity, Heathrow bosses said fewer people would be affected by aircraft noise than at present. They also ruled out a fourth runway until 2040 at the earliest.

The three runway options:

North

• Demolition of 2,700 properties affecting Sipson, Harlington and Cranford Cross villages
• The quickest and cheapest of the three options, but with the shortest runway would only allow 700,000 flights a year
• Access via extended Terminals 5 and 2
• Expected cost of £14bn
• Completion by 2025

North West

• Demolition of up to 950 properties in Harmondsworth and Longford villages, part of the M25 would need to be put into a tunnel
• Access from a new Terminal 6 and extended Terminal 2
• Expected cost of £17bn
• Completion by 2026

South West

• Demolition of up to 850 properties and compulsory purchases in Stanwell Moor village
• Access from a new Terminal 6 and extended Terminal 2
• Expected cost of £18bn, the most complex and expensive proposal of the three
• Completion by 2029

Where to put new runway/airport for London? Every vested interest is quite persuasive. But none ready before 2025.

— sarah smith (@sarahsmithC4) July 17, 2013