Heathrow prepares third-runway blueprint for Labour amid record passenger numbers

Heathrow is preparing to announce a fresh blueprint for a third runway for the Labour government’s approval as record passenger numbers “strain its system to the maximum”. The UK’s biggest airport served almost 40m passengers in the first half of 2024, culminating in its busiest day ever on 30 June. Its CE, Thomas Woldbye, said the London hub would surpass that daily total again this week, and had been encouraged by the new government’s words on aviation and growth. Woldbye said the airport was looking to get “more capacity out of the existing infrastructure” while also working on new runway plans. “We will have a blueprint that includes a third runway, and a blueprint that doesn’t, because at the end of the day, there are still many external dependencies for a third runway,” he said. “I think London needs the additional capacity a third runway would provide.” Woldbye added: “The most urgent is to look at what can we do on capacity within our two runways, because that is what’s facing us tomorrow and the next many years, because a third runway will not be here this year or in the next five or maybe even 10 years. “We are not ready yet with the concrete decisions on how should that look and what would it be, but we are happy to talk to government about expansion plans. We’re happy that they see the value of aviation overall, and Heathrow in particular.”<br/>