The entrepreneur spearheading an audacious scheme to challenge Heathrow’s longstanding dominance has teamed up with the globe’s premier airport to strengthen its proposal for securing the highly sought-after contract to construct the hub’s third runway.
Surinder Arora, the hospitality magnate driving a competing expansion initiative known as Heathrow West, has enlisted expertise from Singapore’s Changi Airport to guarantee its blueprint for the landmark development delivers “the best passenger experience in the world”.
Changi Airport is universally recognised as the finest aviation facility globally and, alongside maintaining one of the most pristine operational records, features a butterfly garden, swimming pool and 40m waterfall, as reported by City AM.
The Arora Group, whose hotel collection encompasses multiple properties surrounding Heathrow, confirmed it had collaborated with the Singaporean facility’s leadership as part of a broader announcement unveiling the complete proposal it submitted to the Department for Transport in July.
The proposal transformed the competition to deliver what represents one of the government’s flagship infrastructure schemes and – if victorious – would shatter Heathrow’s existing operator’s grip on the hub’s daily operations.
Central to Arora’s Heathrow West blueprint – which alongside featuring Changi’s contribution was developed alongside aviation giants Bechtel – is a commitment to construct a more compact, 2,800m runway; a choice which it claims will deliver billions in savings by avoiding the need to redirect the M25 to accommodate a lengthier strip. The competing proposal from Heathrow Airport Ltd – unveiled a day following Arora’s announcement – featured plans for a standard 3,500m runway, which Heathrow executives claimed would offer greater capacity and enable the airport to maximise the mega-project’s economic advantages.
Heathrow has ‘under-served’ passengers in the past
“For too long, the UK’s only hub airport has under-served our domestic passengers, business and international users,” said Carlton Brown, chief executive of Heathrow West.
“By working with proven global experts, Heathrow West can finally deliver the necessary improvements required to restore pride and unlock growth in this major piece of critical national infrastructure.”
Within its proposal, Arora requested Changi to undertake a peer review of the Heathrow West submission, which determined the bid to be “time- and cost-effective, [the] least disruptive to the community and environmentally sustainable”.
A statement from the airport, which has claimed the top spot in Skytrax’s annual airport rankings twice within the past three years, noted: “All in all, HWL’s proposed master plan balances DfT’s strategic objectives, while maintaining affordability and convenience for all airport users.”
The complete proposal – released on Arora’s website on Tuesday – also included backing from Dublin Airport, where the group is presently constructing its inaugural hotel beyond the UK.
