Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the date at which physical work to construct the extensions of Heathrow Airport will commence.

The start date for construction of the Heathrow Northwest Runway scheme will depend on a number of factors, including timings of the Government designating an Airports National Policy Statement and, assuming its application is successful, Heathrow Airport being granted development consent. The Government expects the Heathrow Northwest Runway to be operational by around 2026, and no later than the 2030 timetable set out by the Airports Commission for needing a new runway in the South East.