Chancellor Rachel Reeves has given her support for a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
In a speech in Oxfordshire on growth, she said the west London airport’s expansion is “badly needed” because “for decades its growth has been constrained”.
Heathrow’s plan to build a third runway received parliamentary approval in June 2018, but has been delayed by legal challenges and the coronavirus pandemic.
The airport needs to secure approval for a Development Consent Order to go ahead with the project.
Ms Reeves said: “I can confirm today that this Government supports a third runway at Heathrow and is inviting proposals to be brought forward by the summer.
“We will then take forward a full assessment through the Airports National Policy Statement.
“This will ensure that the project is value for money and our clear expectation is that any associated service transport costs will be financed through private funding.
“It will ensure that a third runway is delivered in line with our legal, environmental and climate objectives.”
Mr Reeves said that “by backing a third runway at Heathrow we can make Britain the world’s best-connected place to do business”.
“That is what it takes to make decisions in the national interest and that is what I mean by going further and faster to kick-start economic growth,” she added.
Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye described the Chancellor’s speech as “the bold, responsible vision the UK needs to thrive in the 21st century”.
He went on: “It has given us the confidence to confirm our continued support for expanding Heathrow.
“Successfully delivering the project at pace requires policy change – particularly around necessary airspace modernisation and making the regulatory model fit for purpose.
“We will now work with the Government on the expected planning reform and support ministers to deliver the changes which will set us on track to securing planning permission before the end of this Parliament.”
The scheme would involve around seven years of construction to produce a third runway and a new terminal.
It would also require more than 700 houses to be demolished and the M25 motorway to be moved into a tunnel.
Environmental groups have expressed major concerns over the impact of airport expansion on climate change.
