Heathrow to submit new runway plan

(Reuters) - London’s Heathrow airport will submit proposals for a new runway south-west of the hub to a UK commission studying airport expansion, according to the Evening Standard newspaper.

The report said Heathrow bosses now favour building on land stretching from the existing airport towards Stanwell Moor village, some 10 kilometres south west of the hub, instead of its original plan to construct a third runway north of the two current take-off and landing strips, citing well-placed sources.

The new idea is one of three options which will be submitted to the Davies Commission into airport expansion, the paper added.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative-led coalition government bowed to pressure from local residents and protest groups concerned about the environmental impact of a Heathrow expansion when it came to power in 2010 by scrapping plans to build a third runway.

The government’s commission on airport capacity, chaired by Howard Davies, is due to report in mid-2015. Heathrow executives will submit their proposals to the commission next month.