A major statutory consultation on the plans launched yesterday, setting out the airport’s growth ambitions to 2050. Outcome of the consultation will inform an application for a Development Consent Order for expansion, which is expected to be submitted to the Transport Secretary next year.

A new ultra low emission zone is proposed by 2022 to charge passengers using more polluting vehicles travelling to and from the airport. This would be replaced from the opening of the third runway in 2026 by an access charge levied on cars and taxis that travel to terminals and airport car parks.

These measures form part of a pledge that the expanded airport will not attract any more road traffic than it does currently, in order to meet air quality restrictions. By 2030 the aim is for at least half of all passenger journeys to the airport to be made by public transport.

Further proposals set out in the masterplan include the creation of new cycling infrastructure and active travel links to local communities, and the introduction of faster, more frequent bus services that start earlier and finish later.

Heathrow adds it is safeguarding the on-airport development needed for both western and southern rail access.

The masterplan also emphasises that, as part of the expansion, a number of roads around the airport including the M25, A4 and A3044 and their associated junctions will need to be diverted.

This will allow London’s orbital motorway to be realigned and lowered into a tunnel under the proposed third runway, up to 150m to the west of its existing position.

Commenting on the plans Heathrow’s executive director for expansion Emma Gilthorpe said: “Expansion must not come at any cost. That is why we have been working with partners at the airport, in local communities and in Government to ensure our plans show how we can grow sustainably and responsibly – with environmental considerations at the heart of expansion.”

But a spokesman for the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “A third runway at Heathrow would be an environmental disaster, with even higher levels of toxic air, increased noise disruption and at least 40,000 additional vehicles on the roads every day.”

(Image: Heathrow Airports Limited)