Heathrow’s 2035 runway promise now points to 2039

• Heathrow executives have reportedly told the Government that opening a third runway by 2035 is unachievable, with 2039 now the reported target.¹
• The Government’s published objective remains an operational runway by 2035. Its draft planning policy does not approve a specific scheme or grant consent.²
• Heathrow says it is still aiming for planning permission by 2029 and expects the runway to open within a decade of approval.¹
• The Department for Transport says there is no live planning application, calls the timeline ambitious and says it will keep working with Heathrow. It has not announced a revised deadline.¹

The four-year gap is striking, but 2039 should not be mistaken for a new official timetable. The reports say Heathrow’s senior executives informed ministers; no revised schedule or formal submission is publicly identified in the published material reviewed. The department’s response stops short of confirming that the 2035 target has changed.

That leaves a project being advanced through government policy-making against a deadline its promoter reportedly considers impossible. Ministers launched a consultation on the planning framework in June, but said it would not itself approve an expansion. Until Heathrow submits a planning application and the Government takes further decisions, 2039 is a reported estimate—not a settled opening date.²

Footnotes

1. The Independent, 26 September 2026; The Standard, 26 September 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Department for Transport, statement on the draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement, 18 June 2026; Department for Transport, next steps for Heathrow promoters, 25 November 2025. ↩ ↩²