LONDON: A leading UK-based Indian-origin business tycoon has drafted alternative proposals for the expansion of London’s Heathrow airport, which he claims will be billions of pounds cheaper than the current scheme for the upgrade of one of the world’s busiest airports.
Surinder Arora, founder and chairman of the Arora Group of hotels, has drawn up plans for a third runway at Heathrow which he believes could be cheaper by around 6.7 billion pounds and less disruptive than the scheme cleared by the government last year.
The tycoon has partnered with US construction firm Bechtel to put forward his alternatives as part of an ongoing public consultation on Heathrow expansion.
“One of the options we have proposed to government includes a possible shift of the runway so that it does not impact on the M25 and M4 motorway; as we know the M25 junction being affected threatens the deliverability of the whole project,” said Arora, whose hotel chain operates at Heathrow and other locations around the UK.
“We appreciate this is a politically sensitive issue but it is merely an option with additional savings of 1.5 billion pounds, whereas the rest of our proposals save up to 5.2 billion pounds without the need to amend the runway location,” he said.
Willie Walsh, the chief executive of International Airlines Group which owns British Airways, described the proposals as a “welcome alternative” to Heathrow’s own “costly” scheme and urged the UK government to “look closely” at the alternatives.
The proposed savings by the Arora Group would come from a redesign of the terminal and taxi way system, ditching plans to expand terminal 2 and an airside passenger transit system.
It also proposes reducing the site by 20 per cent, which would reduce the need for demolition and groundworks besides moving the location of the runway to avoid construction work on the M25.
A Heathrow spokesperson said the airport continues to develop plans to “improve passenger experience, reduce the negative impact on local communities, and lower the cost”.
The expansion of Heathrow airport has been the subject of much controversy over the years, with a third runway finally getting the go-ahead last year.
It is estimated that a new runway at the airport would bring economic benefits worth up to 61 billion pounds to the UK economy, as well as creating up to 77,000 additional local jobs.
A spokesperson for the UK government’s Department for Transport added: “The government has made clear that it believes a new northwest runway at Heathrow is the best scheme to deliver the economic and connectivity benefits this country needs”. (AGENCIES)
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