2039: Heathrow's Third Runway Slips Four Years as Planning Law Stacks the Delays
September 26, 2026 · Frisian News
Heathrow told ministers this week that its third runway will not open until 2039, four years past the 2035 deadline set in January 2025. No planning application exists yet, and a parliamentary vote to finalise the framework could slip to 2027.
Heathrow's third runway will not open until 2039, four years past the 2035 deadline that then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves set in January 2025. Airport chiefs told ministers this week that the original target was impossible to meet, The Times reported.
The revised plan is to secure planning permission by 2029, then open the runway within a decade of that. The Department for Transport confirmed this weekend that no live planning application has been filed. A draft planning framework published in June 2026 remains in consultation, and a parliamentary vote to finalise it could reportedly slip to 2027.
From Reeves's announcement to the earliest credible opening date runs 14 years. The Daily Mail noted that proposals for a third runway date to 1946, making 2039 a long journey from first proposal to first flight.
The official line from Chancellor John Healey is that the project has received "the go-ahead" and that "the economic case stacks up." Heathrow promised at least 108,000 new jobs and "billions invested in supply chains in every part of the country," calling the scheme "100% privately financed." The Department for Transport said it would continue to work with stakeholders "at pace."
Planning law is doing real work on the timeline. Heathrow said the runway could be delivered sooner if additional regulatory barriers are removed, beyond the planning law reforms already introduced by the Government. The airport is asking ministers to clear further hurdles before a planning application even exists. One physical obstacle alone: the M25 must be rerouted through a tunnel between junctions 14 and 15, a piece of work Alliance News put at £1.5 billion of a total estimated project cost of £33 billion.
The airport currently operates at around 98% capacity, handling 84 to 85 million passengers a year across two runways and capped at 480,000 flights annually. The third runway would raise capacity to 756,000 flights and 150 million passengers a year. Every year of delay is a year that flight slots stay constrained.
While the planning documents circulate, Heathrow lost its title as the world's busiest airport to Istanbul this summer, the Daily Mail reported. The government's climate advisers warned last week that expansion should only go ahead if airlines were required to fund cleaner flying, a condition that could push ticket prices up by hundreds of pounds by 2050.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham, heading to his first Labour conference as PM, told colleagues he had "never been in favour" of the scheme. On ITV's Lorraine Kelly show this week, he said "the voice of local areas must be heard first in this debate before anywhere else." His predecessor Keir Starmer called the runway "a cornerstone of delivering economic growth." His Chancellor has said the project has the government's "go-ahead" and that "the economic case stacks up." His PM calls it an open question.
The planning process has been running, in one form or another, since before any of the people deciding it were born.
FryskDe tredde baan fan Heathrow sil net iepene wurde foar 2039, fjouwer jier nei de uterste datum fan 2035 dy't doe-kanselier Rachel Reeves yn jannewaris 2025 fêststeld hie. De lieders fan de lofthaven fertelden ministers dizze wike dat it oarspronklike doel net te heljen wie, sa melde The Times.
It wizige plan is om planningsfergunning te krijen foar 2029, en de baan dan binnen tsien jier dêrnei te iepenjen. It Departement fan Transport befêstige dit wykein dat der noch gjin aktive planningsoanfraach yntsjinne is. In konsept-planningsramt dat yn juny 2026 publisearre waard, leit noch yn konsultaasje, en in parlemintstemming om it definityf fêst te lizzen kin neffens berjochten útglide oant 2027.
Fan de oankundiging fan Reeves oant de ierst mooglike iepeningsdatum rint 14 jier. The Daily Mail fêststelde dat foarstellen foar in tredde baan weromgeane oant 1946, wêrby't 2039 in lange reis betsjut fan earste foarstel oant earste flecht.
De offisjele line fan kanselier John Healey is dat it projekt 'it grien ljocht' krigen hat en dat 'it ekonomyske argumint kloppt.' Heathrow sei ta op syn minst 108.000 nije banen en 'miljarden ynvestearre yn leveringsketens yn elk part fan it lân,' en neamde it skema '100% privaat finansiere.' It Departement fan Transport sei dat it trochgean soe mei it wurkjen mei belutsen partijen 'yn rap tempo.'
De planningswet docht echt wurk op de tiidline. Heathrow sei dat de baan earder oplevere wurde koe as oanfoljende wetlike obstakels ôfromme wurde, bûten de planningswethervormingen dy't de regearing al ynfierd hat. De lofthaven freget ministers om fierdere behinderingen fuort te romjen foardat der sels in planningsoanfraach bestiet. Allinne al ien fysyk obstakel: de M25 moat tusken knooppunten 14 en 15 troch in tunnel omleid wurde, in stik wurk dat Alliance News op £1,5 miljard sette fan projektkosten dy't op £33 miljard skatten wurde.
De lofthaven wurket op it stuit op sa'n 98% kapasiteit en ferwurket 84 oant 85 miljoen passazjiers per jier fia twa banen, mei in plafond fan 480.000 fluchten jiers. De tredde baan soe de kapasiteit ferheegje nei 756.000 fluchten en 150 miljoen passazjiers per jier. Elk jier fan fertraging is in jier dat de flechtslots beheind bliuwe.
Wylst de planningsdokuminten de rûnte dogge, ferlear Heathrow dizze simmer syn titel as drokste lofthaven fan 'e wrâld oan Istanbul, sa melde the Daily Mail. De klimaatadviseurs fan de regearing warskôgen ferline wike dat útwreiding allinne trochgean moat as loftfaartmaatskippijen ferplichte wurde om skjinnere flecht te finansieren, in betingst dy't kaartpriizen mei hûnderten pûn ferhegje kinne soe oant 2050.
Premier Andy Burnham, op wei nei syn earste Labour-konferinsje as premier, fertelde kollega's dat hy 'nea foar' it skema west hie. Yn de Lorraine Kelly-sjo fan ITV dizze wike sei hy dat 'de stim fan lokale gebieten earst yn dit debat heard wurde moat foardat earne oars.' Syn foargonger Keir Starmer neamde de baan 'in hoekstien fan it leverjen fan ekonomyske groei.' Syn kanselier hat sein dat it projekt it 'grien ljocht' fan de regearing hat en dat 'it ekonomyske argumint kloppt.' Syn premier neamt it in iepen fraach.
It planningsproses rint, yn ien foarm of in oare, sûnt foar de berte fan elkenien dy't der no oer beslisse moat.
Published September 26, 2026 · Frisian News