Aviation heavyweights IAG, Virgin Atlantic and IATA have backed an alternative plan for Heathrow’s third runway after the Arora Group this week submitted a new, phased proposal for the airport’s expansion.
After losing out to London Heathrow Airport’s rival plan last November, billionaire hotel entrepreneur Surinder Arora on Monday (18 May) outlined an alternative proposal for the UK hub airport's expansion that includes a new western terminal as well as a phased third runway.
The long-debated construction of a third runway at Heathrow was given the backing of UK chancellor Rachel Reeves last January to a mixed reaction from supporters and environmental groups.
According to Arora’s new Heathrow West proposal, an initial 2,400-metre runway could be built without the need to move the M25 motorway (as per London Heathrow Airport’s current £49 billion plan) and could be operational by 2035, meeting the government’s timeline for Heathrow’s expansion.
The initial phase will be “future-proofed to allow for expansion as demand warrants”, according to Arora, and during any future expansion, the 2,400-metre runway would continue to operate with minimal impact, the group said in a statement.
The Heathrow West proposal also includes a new Terminal 6, located to the west of Terminal 5, which will be capable of accommodating 40 million passengers annually.
Arora argued that its phased approach “accelerates delivery of a third runway – in line with the government’s ambitions – and also retains a disciplined focus on affordability, operational realism and constructive engagement with airline customers”.
Luis Gallego, CEO of British Airways owner IAG, described the proposal as “a credible option with the potential to cap costs for passengers and deliver the benefits of expansion as soon as possible for the UK”.
Gallego added: “We think it is worth further development and should be carefully considered by the UK government.”
Virgin Atlantic CEO Corneel Koster also expressed support for the Heathrow West plan, saying, “any approach that delivers affordable expansion to the benefit of consumers, the UK aviation sector and UK economy, is welcomed.”
Willie Walsh, outgoing director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), also chimed in, stating Heathrow’s expansion “must be deliverable, financeable, and affordable. Arora is the only party to engage seriously with those constraints in a practical way. This is not theoretical planning; it is a scheme being built with real-world delivery in mind”.
Echoing calls from campaign group Heathrow Reimagined – which represents the Heathrow Airline Operators’ Committee, Arora Group, IAG and Virgin Atlantic – Arora is now lobbying the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to establish a “formal, rules based framework” to govern how competing expansion proposals should be assessed.
This follows the CAA's recent launch of a consultation regarding potential regulatory models for capacity expansion at Heathrow earlier this month.
The options under consideration include enhancements to the existing regulatory framework, including improvements to capital expenditure governance and increased scrutiny of Heathrow Airport Limited’s procurement processes. Additional proposals involve a longer-term price control model, competitive delivery models that would impose new requirements on Heathrow Airport Limited to competitively tender elements of the capacity expansion programme, and an alternative developer model permitting a third party to design, construct, finance, own and operate assets like a new terminal.
According to a CAA statement, implementation of the alternative developer model would likely be dependent on an alternative developer being granted permission through the Development Consent Order (DCO) planning process.
The CAA’s consultation will run until 15 June 2026, with a “high-level update” on the outcome expected in July.
Arora said it intends to submit a DCO application for its Heathrow West plan in November 2027.
“We have committed significant time and resource to producing our latest plans to ensure that they are highly credible, in line with the Government’s objectives and offering better value to airlines and passengers,” said Arora Group founder and chairman Surinder Arora. “We will continue to engage fully with airlines and other stakeholders as we prepare to submit for planning.”