The long-discussed expansion of the UK’s Heathrow Airport to create a third runway could galvanise the country’s economy and is “overdue,” according to comments from the head of Dubai Airports.
Paul Griffiths, the former chief of Gatwick Airport and now CEO in Dubai, told The Telegraph the failure to upgrade Heathrow was holding back growth and causing the airport to lose power and prestige. “The true competition between airlines and airports is in the transfer market. And unfortunately, because of the shortage in capacity, Heathrow has lost its status as a transfer hub,” Griffiths said, adding: “I think the problem in the West is that the development of airports is an incredibly political thing. Heathrow’s third runway has been in play for 50 years and we’re no further forward.”
Arguing the UK needs to “get on with it,” Griffiths said that ongoing assessments of the environmental impact of airport expansion in the developed world are not “a balanced debate” and are causing “a sorry sight” because “the thing that could really put a shot in the arm of the British economy is being stifled because there is not enough capacity.”
Heathrow is the UK’s biggest and busiest airport and has seen recent increases in traffic, handling a record 84 million passengers in 2025. But the potential for further capacity growth at the west London hub is limited, inflating the price of airline slots into the millions. A third runway was first proposed in 1946, eight decades ago, and would enable Heathrow to process an estimated 150 million passengers annually. However, the expansion has drawn considerable environmental opposition during the planning stages. What’s more, airlines such as British Airways and Virgin, Heathrow’s two largest carriers, have criticised the airport’s funding model, objecting to the high fees they pay to serve the hub and claiming they are funding improvements to the airport that will benefit their competition.
Griffiths contrasted the struggle faced at Heathrow with his experience at Dubai Airports, where he enjoys considerable government backing. “People understand here how important aviation is to the economy and what a massive contributor we are to GDP,” he said. As a result, he is able to “facilitate the growth of the aviation sector and not constrain it in any way.”
“The barriers to economic growth by constraining the growth of aviation are serious and probably not widely understood. The economic benefits will kickstart the UK economy in a way that no other industry could do,” Griffiths said, pointing out that the stalemate is leading to a swing in the power balance in global aviation.
“The players are shifting,” Griffiths said. “Our biggest player is not Heathrow or Gatwick. It is what’s happening in Qatar or Istanbul. They are determined to capture market share from us.”
Dubai International Airport knocked Heathrow from the top spot as the world’s busiest international airport over 10 years ago, and has grown at a rate of 35%, double that of its British rival.
