Heathrow Expansion Bill: Passengers to Shoulder £320m in Higher Fares for Decades

Soaring airfares from London’s Heathrow are set to climb even higher after regulators gave the airport the green light to pass on hundreds of millions of pounds in pre-construction costs. The Civil Aviation Authority has permitted Heathrow Airport Limited to recoup £320m spent on planning its controversial third runway, a sum that will be recovered through airline charges over the next 20 to 25 years. Those costs typically find their way into ticket prices, meaning passengers will be paying an extra 15p per journey in 2028, with that figure rising to around 30p in later years.

The decision also covers a rival proposal from billionaire Surinder Arora’s Heathrow West scheme, which can reclaim £4.1m spent before the government chose the main runway plan last November. British Airways, the airport’s biggest operator, has already warned that shifting these costs onto travellers risks making expansion “unaffordable” and undermining the case for building at all. Airlines have long complained that Heathrow already charges the highest fees of any global hub.

Tim Johnson, the CAA’s consumer director, said the ruling aims to balance timely expansion with passenger protection. The costs are capped and independently audited, he noted. Meanwhile, the government has launched a consultation on the national policy statement needed to proceed, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves pushing for construction to start in this parliament and finish by 2035. Not everyone is on board: Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has argued the project diverts investment from the north, locking it into London instead.