Heathrow's third runway can be built and operating in a decade's time, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said. Reeves told the BBC she wanted to see "spades in the ground" in the current Parliament and planes to start using the runway by 2035.

The U.K. government is backing the construction of a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport, Treasury chief Rachel Reeves said Wednesday in a speech designed to signal to the business world that the new Labour government is serious about turning around the economy.

What could a third runway at Heathrow mean for tourism and the climate? Whatever the outcome, it’s still a long way away from happening.

Plans to expand London's other airports are already further along than Heathrow's and have in the past been viewed as an alternative to a third Heathrow runway. Work is set to start this year to expand capacity at Stansted's terminal. The government is due to make a decision on Gatwick airport by 27 February.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has backed a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport as part of a fresh plan to get the UK's sluggish economy growing. She said Heathrow expansion, which has been delayed for decades over environmental concerns, would "make Britain the world's best connected place to do business".

The third runway is part of its drive to lift the U.K. economy out of a long period of stagnation, Treasury chief Rachel Reeves said in a speech on Wednesday.