Hotel billionaire launches shock bid to run Heathrow expansion
The race to manage Heathrow’s multibillion-pound third runway expansion has been thrown wide open after a rival suitor confirmed it will submit a proposal to go up against an expected bid from the airport’s current operators.
The Arora Group, a hotel chain with 13 hotels in transport hubs across London and the South East, confirmed it will table a bid to manage the roughly £21bn project that will see it go head to head with incumbent operator Heathrow.
Dubbed ‘Heathrow West’, the left-field proposal claims to offer a “cost-efficient solution” for the controversial expansion which the government threw its weight behind in January as one of several infrastructure projects aimed at kick starting the UK’s flagging economy.
At the heart of Arora’s bid, which it developed alongside aviation project juggernauts Bechtel, is a promise not to build over the M25, a move which the firm claimed would allow the project to be less expensive and more punctual.
To do that, Heathrow West’s runway would be just 2,800m long, considerably shorter than the full-length 3,500m runway planned by the airport. Critics claim the truncated strip would not be able to deliver the same economic and operational benefits. But Arora insisted its proposal would still deliver “for airlines, passengers and cargo”, be able to accommodate aircraft of all sizes, while being considerably less expensive.
On top of the controversial runway, the proposal also comprises a new, modernised Terminal 6, which would be located to the west of the existing Terminal 5.
Rival Heathrow bid promises to ‘unlock growth’
Surinder Arora, the billionaire hotel magnate behind the bid, said: “Our Heathrow West proposal… directly meets and supports the United Kingdom’s primary objective of unlocking economic growth at the UK’s only hub airport, with a strong commitment of doing so on-budget and on-time.”
Many will interpret Mr Arora’s bid as another salvo in a long-running spat between his hotel group, which owns six hotels around the west London hub, and the airport’s top brass.
He has repeatedly accused Heathrow management of being ineffective and profligate, and earlier this year mounted a joint campaign alongside operators and airlines calling for “fundamental reform” of the airport’s regulatory model.
The group claimed the monopoly that Heathrow enjoys across all the airport’s terminals had led it to charge operators the most per passenger of any major hub, and branded the current system “not fit for purpose”.
Heathrow management is expected to table its expansion plan on Thursday. The bids mark the first phase of what promises to be a major corporate battle, after transport secretary Heidi Alexander took the unusual step of accepting proposals from rival bidders.
Mr Arora added: “We are delighted that the government has taken a common sense approach to invite proposals from all interested parties for the very first time rather than granting exclusivity to the current airport operator, no matter its track record.”