British Airways’ parent company has described hotel tycoon Surinder Arora’s Heathrow expansion as “credible”.
International Airlines Group (IAG) chief executive Luis Gallego said “competition is good to improve things”.
Both Arora and Heathrow's owners submitted competing third runway proposals to the Government this week.
Arora is proposing to build a shorter, 2,800-metre (9,186ft) runway so the M25 motorway does not need to be diverted. His Arora Group company says this would result in “reduced risk” and avoid “spiralling cost”.
Heathrow, on the other hand, is seeking permission for a full length, 3,500-metre (11,482ft) runway. The airport says that a shorter runway would reduce operational flexibility and still require either additional M25 capacity or alternative rail schemes.
Gallego said: “We need to work closely with both parties to understand better what they have proposed because the proposals are not comparable.”
“We have two credible proposals," he continued. “We always think that competition is good to improve things, and we have seen that in commercial aviation in the past.”
“We need to work with both of them. We don’t have any preference.
“We only want to build something affordable that’ll allow everybody to have more passengers, but they don’t have to pay the level they are paying today.”
Heathrow estimates its runway and airfield plan would cost £21 billion through private funding.
The airport's total expansion plan, including new terminals and supporting infrastructure, would be expected to cost £49 billion.
Arora's alternative proposal comes with a cost estimate of under £25 billion, excluding redevelopment of the airport's existing central area.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander will consider the third runway plans over the summer so that a review of the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) can begin later this year.
The ANPS will provide the basis for decision-making on any development consent order application.
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
