Heathrow airport is set to announce a multibillion-pound investment as it prepares its proposal for a new runway after getting backing last month from the Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
In a speech on Wednesday, chief executive Thomas Woldbye will unveil funding for upgrades and expansion, such as boosting the capacity of Terminals 2 and 5, reconfiguring the layout of the airfield, and boosting bus and coach connections.
It comes after Ms Reeves used a speech on growth last month to give her support for a third runway at Heathrow.
Mr Woldbye is expected to say: “This privately-funded programme will upgrade existing infrastructure while laying the groundwork for a third runway, boosting UK investment and economic growth, with tangible benefits felt this year.
“Heathrow is proud to answer the Chancellor’s call to get Britain building.”
The Government said the investment programme is expected to secure thousands of British steel jobs across the country by driving a significant increase in demand for UK-made steel.
Mr Woldbye will add: “A third runway is critical for the country’s future economic success, and I confirm we will submit our plans for a third runway to Government this summer.
“Ahead of then, as part of a phased expansion programme and supported by the Government’s clear backing, I am today confirming multibillion-pound investment plans, 100% privately-funded, to upgrade our terminal buildings, enhance passenger experience, and improve resilience and sustainability.
“This is vital investment and will ensure Heathrow remains globally competitive and a jewel in the country’s crown.”
It’s expected British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, which is the only facility making primary steel in the UK, will be used. Terminal 5 – which opened in 2008 – required 80,000 tonnes of steel.
Detailed plans for the third runway are still being prepared.
The Department for Business and Trade said it welcomed a “major vote of confidence from Heathrow in its growth mission after backing a third runway.”
Campaigners against Heathrow expansion described the planned announcement as “Orwellian”.
Paul McGuinness, chairman of the No 3rd Runway Coalition group, said: “How bizarre for the government to suggest supporting a project that hasn’t even submitted a planning application, and can’t be approved until well beyond this parliament’s lifetime, will kickstart economic growth.
“As for any construction or purchase of steel, that would be at least over half a decade away, and the project may yet prove uninvestable as several of Heathrow’s airline customers have averred.
“The costs of demolishing villages, diverting roads and rivers and tunnelling over the M25’s busiest junction, to increase Heathrow’s size by an area that is larger than Birmingham International Airport, promises to be inordinately expensive.
“There seems something Orwellian about this announcement, and this is only re-affirmed by its decision to cite a report commissioned by Heathrow itself, as evidence of the project’s possible benefits – rather than the government’s own Treasury’s assessment which concluded that once the ‘disbenefits’ had been taken into account, the project’s maximum economic benefit to the UK would be somewhere between £3.3bn and minus £2.2bn over 60 years.”
On Tuesday, the airport said it recorded the busiest January in its history. More than 6.3 million passengers travelled through its four terminals last month.
That is up more than 5% from six million in January 2024. The airport said transatlantic travel was a “key contributor” to the growth.
More than 1.2 million passengers travelled between Heathrow and the US in January, up 8% compared with a year earlier.
