Heathrow has launched an eight-week public consultation on its third-runway expansion plan, setting out a 27 October to 22 December window before a planning application is submitted. The process comes as the airport advances its wider expansion programme in London and remains in the pre-application phase, with no live planning application yet in place.
Becky Coffin, Heathrow’s communities and residential property director, framed the exercise as an opportunity for local people, businesses and education institutions to shape the plans. The consultation sits alongside the government’s ongoing work on the national policy framework for Heathrow expansion, which will guide how any future scheme is assessed.
The move keeps the long-running third-runway debate on a procedural track rather than a construction one. It is aimed at building the evidence base and local input needed ahead of a formal submission, while ministers continue to consider responses on the policy framework. Reuters has separately reported that Heathrow sees the runway opening slipping to 2039, highlighting the scale of delivery risk attached to the project.