London Heathrow Airport will be allowed to levy a surcharge
of around 15 pence (about 20 U.S. cents) per passenger to pay for the early
costs of its plans to build a third runway at the UK hub.
The Civil Aviation Authority, the UK regulator, has ruled
that Heathrow can increase its charges from 2028 to pay for the early planning
and design work on its £49 billion expansion plans incurred
in 2025 and 2026, up to a cap of £320 million.
This will allow Heathrow to increase its charges by 15p in
2028, which will then rise to around 30p in the following years. The airport's
current average charge is set at £26.31 per passenger, with the CAA proposing
that it be capped at between £27.20 and £30.50 per
passenger between 2027 and 2031. The surcharge will be in addition to
these proposed fees.
The CAA said that it would consult later this year on how
the costs of Heathrow's expansion from 2027 onwards will be paid for. The new
runway is currently not expected to be operational until the mid-2030s.
Tim Johnson, director of consumers and markets at the CAA, in
a statement added: "Our decision strikes a balance between supporting the
delivery of benefits to consumers through timely progress on Heathrow
expansion, while also protecting them from undue increases in costs.
"The costs Heathrow can recover are capped,
independently scrutinized and subject to efficiency reviews, helping ensure
that passengers only pay for efficient costs that are justified."
The UK government, which has previously backed Heathrow's expansion, is going
through a public consultation on the Heathrow
Expansion National Policy Statement (HENPS), which will set the policy
framework for the project. This consultation is scheduled to run until Sept. 1,
with the government hoping to secure planning permission by 2029.
The airport said in a statement: "Heathrow expansion is
about more than just a runway—this project is about making travel more
affordable and giving passengers more choice, while providing a real economic
boost to every region and nation of the country.
"We have been clear from the start that unlocking the
private investment that will deliver these benefits requires a supportive
regulatory framework. We are carefully considering the CAA proposals and will
make investment decisions accordingly."
Airlines consistently have protested about the charges they
already face at Heathrow and have backed a cheaper alternative plan for Heathrow's third runway,
which has been proposed by hotel entrepreneur Surinder Arora's Arora Group.
Arora Group's earlier plan for the airport's expansion
was rejected in favor of
Heathrow's inhouse scheme by the government in November 2025, but the
CAA will allow the group to recoup £4.1 million in costs for its work on the
proposal.
The airport previously secured
parliamentary approval to build a third runway in 2018 under the
former Conservative government. But these plans were eventually shelved after
a series
of legal challenges and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.