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Heathrow poised to appeal third runway rejection

Heathrow is due at the Supreme Court tomorrow (Wednesday) to appeal against a ruling which found the airport’s third runway plan was incompatible with the UK’s climate change commitments.

The London hub is to challenge February’s judgment by the Court of Appeal.

The court ruled against the £14 billion third runway, stating that it did not contain legal commitments on carbon targets set out in the Paris Agreement.

However, other objections to the expansion were not upheld, reducing the reason for its rejection to just one issue.

Supporters of the London hub’s expansion are pledging to be outside the court for the start of the appeal, which is expected to last two days.

However, Heathrow Hub, the independent proposal for incremental expansion via an extended northern runway, believes its alternative scheme is more viable.

The Civil Aviation Authority concluded in May that Heathrow’s expansion plan was “unlikely” top be restated in the short term.

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye told the government’s transport select committee at the time that a third runway would be needed in ten to 15 years due to the Covid-19 crisis.

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