In its 2003 Air Transport White Paper the Government announced that it supported the future growth of Heathrow, subject to strict environmental conditions:

“The further development of Heathrow is supported, including a further new runway and additional terminal capacity to be delivered as soon as possible (within the 2015-2020 period) after the new runway at Stansted, but only if stringent environmental limits can be met”.

In its 2006 White Paper Progress Report the Government reaffirmed its commitment to the future growth of Heathrow but made it clear that there would be no further growth of Heathrow unless the set environmental limits were met.

• No more noise than in 2002
• All air quality pollution safely within EU limits
• Public transport improvements to help manage congestion 

Find out more about the environmental limits of future growth. 

To help assess whether future growth of the airport would be possible within the set environmental limits, the Government set up a body known as the Project for the Sustainable Development of Heathrow (PSDH). The Department for Transport has recently completed a public consultation on the findings of PSDH.  To find out more please go to the DfT website.