Heathrow’s third runway has been delayed for four years until 2039

The original deadline was set by then-chancellor Rachel Reeves last January.

Airport bosses in west London say their focus has always been securing planning permission by 2029, while the department for transport admits the timeline’s ‘always been ambitious.’

Meanwhile the GMB Union has hit back at the delay saying attempts to use a revised timeline for Heathrow’s third runway is an argument for scrapping it.

GMB represents workers across the airport.

The union says the answer to a slow planning system is to fix the planning system, not abandon one of the country’s most important infrastructure projects.