The Chancellor has put the Government firmly behind plans to expand Heathrow Airport.
Commenting on the prospect of a third runway in West London, Rachel Reeves said she wanted to see ‘spades in the ground’ during the lifetime of this parliament. She is hopeful that aircrafts can start using the planned runway by 2035 – which was originally proposed in 2018, but has since been delayed by judicial reviews. It is hoped that the new runway will lead to an extra 100,000 jobs.
In the meantime, a formal planning process will need to be carried out, which could take up to two years. Any judicial review of the plan could take another 18 months, while runway construction could take around seven years. Reeves insists, however, that the Government is changing the planning system to make it easier to deliver these projects as speedily as possible.
The new runway is a one of several airport infrastructure projects the Government sees as drivers of economic growth, the others being the respective expansions of City Airport and Stansted Airport. There are further proposals on installing an emergency runway at Gatwick and potentially extending Luton Airport too.
The airport plans are not confined to the South East and the Government is also working alongside local authorities to reopen the Doncaster Sheffield Airport, with a view to turning it into an important regional hub.
If you are looking at investment planning in Cheshire, there will be a new partnership between Manchester Airport Group and Prologis to build an advanced manufacturing and logistics park. It is expected this will bring £1 billion of investment and circa 2,000 jobs.
