Heathrow chief John Holland-Kaye urges Government to take action on runway

Britain’s biggest airport was expecting to see 242,526 passengers pass through its terminals

Queen Elizabeth II is shown around the new Terminal 2: The Queen's Terminal by Development Director for Terminal 2 and CEO Designate John Holland-Kaye (Getty)

Heathrow’s chief executive has urged the Government to give approval to its third runway on what was forecast to be the busiest day in its 86-year history.

Britain’s biggest airport was expecting to see 242,526 passengers pass through its terminals – with 129,647 people heading off to destinations such as the Caribbean, Mexico and Alicante – an average of 130 people every minute.

John Holland-Kaye, the airport’s chief executive, played down fears that a recommendation by the Airports Commission to expand Heathrow, rather than Gatwick, will be blocked by senior Cabinet members such as Theresa May and Boris Johnson.

A final decision is expected before the end of the year.

Mr Holland-Kaye said: “Our message is: ‘let’s get on with it’. The quicker a final decision is made, then the quicker we can get on with creating thousands of new jobs and boosting the UK economy.”

He added that a new runway could be in use by 2025 if construction started in 2019.

His comments came as Heathrow saw its pre-tax profits soar from £23m to £120m in the six months ending 30 June, as revenues rose 5.9 per cent to £1.3bn. Passenger numbers were up 1.3 per cent.