- Start
- Dec 31, 203550% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
Heathrow's £49BN Third Runway Plan
- Heathrow carried nearly 85 million passengers in 2025, about 3 million more than it was designed for, and handles roughly 75% of all UK air cargo.
- The plan splits roughly £21BN for the runway, £12BN for a new T5X terminal and £15BN for modernising the rest of the airport, including a phased closure of Terminal 3.
- The UK government has set a 2029 deadline to decide on planning permission, with a third runway not expected to open until around 2035.
References 366% CONFIDENCE
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]50%youtube.com/watch?v=x-yXy6NLWGYyoutube.com· Posted Sep 14, 2026· Starts Dec 31, 2035 ✓· 59% of score
A target, per the source: consent is only aimed for "before 2030", after which "a third runway would then open by 2035".
- [2]90%Heathrow greenlights work on third runway planning application – Heathrow media centremediacentre.heathrow.com· Published Jan 1, 2026· 22% of score
Heathrow's own press release confirms its board "approved new investment to begin work on a planning application for a third runway," aiming to "secure planning permission by 2029 and have the third runway operational within a decade" - consistent with the pin's stored 2035 estimated opening date.
- [3]88%Heathrow's £49 Billion Third-Runway Project Backed by Ministers – Bloombergbloomberg.com· Published Nov 24, 2025· 19% of score
Bloomberg's own headline, "Heathrow's[2] £49 Billion Third-Runway Project Backed by Ministers," published 24 November 2025, reports the ministerial backing that preceded Heathrow's own announcement, supporting the pin's narrative, though a 403 error blocked retrieval of the article text.
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