Heathrow new CEO likely to want expansion in numbers, but…
Thomas Woldbye, Heathrow’s new chief executive, is understood to have begun disbanding the 3rd runway team, and the airport’s runway plans have been shelved, as leaked details of the airport’s “better not bigger” strategy can be revealed. Woldbye is instead understood to be exploring how to squeeze millions more passengers through the airport without expanding its footprint. This comes with Heathrow’s Spanish owner Ferrovial facing a protracted process to sell its stake to a Saudi-backed consortium for £2.4 billion. It is believed that a new Heathrow team is pulling together plans under the internal strapline of “better not bigger”, which was originally coined by anti-expansion campaigners. Leaked details of the plans reveal that annual passenger numbers could hit 96 million by 2036, up from the record 80.9 million in 2019, if all of its initiatives can be realised. A “core” case is understood to forecast a rise to 86 million passengers. One way to increase passenger numbers is to make more efficient use of the runway so that planes could take off and land closer together. They will also want to increase Heathrow’s annual flight cap from 480,000 to 505,000, though this would require government consent. . Tweet Heathrow third runway shelved as airport seeks to be ‘better not bigger’ Chief executive Thomas Woldbye exploring how to squeeze millions more passengers through the airport without expanding its footprint By Oliver Gill, The Sunday Times Sunday February 25 2024 Thomas Woldbye, Heathrow Airport’s chief executive, is understood to have begun disbanding the third runway team Heathrow’s third runway has been shelved as leaked details of the airport’s “better not bigger” strategy can be revealed. New chief executive Thomas Woldbye is understood to have begun disbanding Heathrow’s third runway team in favour of exploring how to squeeze millions more passengers through the airport without expanding its footprint. The move comes with Heathrow’s Spanish owner Ferrovial facing a protracted process to sell its stake to a Saudi-backed consortium for £2.4 billion. City sources said that a new Heathrow team was pulling together plans under the internal strapline of “better not bigger”, which was originally coined by anti-expansion campaigners. Sources close to Heathrow insisted that they “did not recognise” the motto. Leaked details of the plans reveal that annual passenger numbers could hit 96 million by 2036, up from the record 80.9 million it welcomed in 2019, if all of its initiatives can be realised. A “core” case is understood to forecast a rise to 86 million passengers. The 2019 record was previously considered the maximum number of passengers it could support without expansion. But one source familiar with the new plans said: “There’s loads that can be done without spending billions.” Among the proposals to increase passenger numbers is a plan to use more buses to transport passengers from the terminal to the aircraft so that planes can be parked further afield. Other initiatives include more efficient use of the runway so that planes could take off and land closer together. Increasing Heathrow’s annual flight cap from 480,000 to 505,000 is also under consideration, though this would require government consent. City sources said that there was limited appetite among shareholders for big spending on a ra
