In a first-quarter trading update, issued on Wednesday (23 April), Heathrow said it was now working hard to submit its detailed plans to the government by the summer with a view to securing planning permission by the end of this current parliament in 2029.

"Work continues at pace towards the submission of our proposal," said Heathrow. "Our plans would be entirely privately funded and have the potential to kick start economic growth across the whole of the UK from construction through to operation.

"Depending on the government’s response, we would aim to meet their ambition to secure planning permission in this parliament and for the runway to be operational by 2035. New capacity would boost competition and choice for consumers, drive economic growth for the UK and improve operational resilience at the UK’s hub airport."

Heathrow added it had undertaken "extensive engagement" with airlines to shape its business plan for the period from 2027 to 2031, which includes work on the fees the airport charges carriers to operate at the airport.

"The plan will outline the outcomes customers can expect and provide value for our customers with the aim to submit the plan to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) this summer," it said. A decision on how to regulate Heathrow’s future costs is expected in April 2027.

The government earlier this year signalled its support for expansion at Heathrow via third runway, although aviation minister Mike Kane has stressed the government won’t pay for surface works, which include moving part of the M25 motorway.

Besides boosting economic growth and customer choice, Heathrow said its plans would strengthen operational resilience, which has come under scrutiny after the airport suspended all operations on 21 March owing to a significant power outage.

The outage, caused by a fire at one of the electrical substations supplying the airport, affected more than 300,000 passengers across the world and was the subject of a parliamentary committee hearing earlier this month. 

Despite the recent issues, the airport has made a strong start to 2025; in the three months to 31 March, the airport reported a 2.5% increase in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) to £454 million while revenue went up by 2.1% to £825 million.

And even though the busy Easter period has fallen into the airport’s second quarter, passenger demand matched last year, with 18.2 million passengers passing through Heathrow’s terminals during the first three months of the year.

During this time, the airport has also welcomed new flights to Cancun, Ottawa and Kuala Lumpur, and short-haul services to Rimini, Tbilisi and Santiago de Compostela.

“2025 will be a pivotal year for Heathrow as we finalise our business plan for the next five years and submit our proposals to government to unlock new capacity at the UK’s gateway to growth,” said chief financial officer Sally Ding.

“Our focus on steadily improving operational performance is yielding results, and our future plans will enable us to deliver better value and more growth for our customers and the country."