Arora Developments has submitted the first part of its plans for the expansion of Heathrow, a scoping document, offering, they say, a cheaper alternative way of expanding the airport than Heathrow’s own plans.
It is thought that this is the first time a competing bid to obtain a development consent order (DCO) – the process for deciding an application such at Heathrow expansion – has been made in the UK.
Heathrow Airport is consulting on plans for a new North West runway at the UK’s hub airport, which would allow it to expand, ncrease the number of destinations and the volume of passengers. Arora say these plans wil cost moe than Heathrow says, up to £31bn, and that their plans would deliver the same capacity of 130 million passengers per year for just £14.4bn.
Arora Group is a significant landowner around the airport, and operates a number of hotels there. The Arora plan for Heathrow aims to avoid redeveloping existing terminals by concentrating new terminal capacity between Terminal 5 and the M25, and includes all the airport infrastructure required for expansion except for the actual runway, which would still be installed by Heathrow.
Arora also argue that introducing competition in the development of Heathrow will improve value for airlines and passengers.
