British finance minister Rachel Reeves announced that the government supported plans for a third runway at the major international hub, despite opposition from environmentalists and some MPs from the Labour majority.
It would be a rare expansion in Europe, where countries are torn between efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the needs of a strategic sector that has seen demand grow.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the airline industry group, and aircraft makers Boeing and Airbus expect the number of air travellers to double to 10 billion per year worldwide in the next 25 years.
Asia will be the main driver of that growth but Europe's passenger numbers will increase by 2.3 percent per year over the next 20 years, adding 656 million travellers by 2043.
Environmental groups warn, however, that only a reduction in air traffic could help Europe reach its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Rising air traffic could cancel out the benefits of transitioning to sustainable aviation fuels, with European aviation emissions in 2049 potentially matching 2019 levels, according to a study by Transport & Environment (T&E) advocacy group.
"The growth plans of the aviation industry are in complete contradiction with Europe's climate goals and do not address the scale of the climate crisis," said Jerome du Boucher, an aviation manager at T&E's French branch.
In western Europe, few European hubs have announced expansions, while measures have been rolled out to encourage less air travel.
France abandoned plans to expand Paris Charles-de-Gaulle Airport in 2021 and is set to increase aviation taxes after banning short-haul domestic flights where train alternatives exist for trips under 2.5 hours.
In the Netherlands, authorities plan to cap annual flights at Amsterdam Schiphol airport to reduce noise pollution, with a similar measure expected in Brussels by 2032.
At Paris-Orly airport, where flight numbers are already capped, operator ADP expects a 16 percent increase in passenger numbers between 2023 and 2035, facilitated by larger and more efficient aircraft rather than more flights.
Still, major infrastructure projects are moving forward elsewhere, particularly in sun-soaked destinations popular with low-cost airlines.
A new airport is being planned in Lisbon by 2034, and Crete's Heraklion airport is undergoing significant expansion.
Industry leaders worry that Europe's airports, already struggling with saturated air traffic, will be too cramped in the future.
"The European continent is already home to half of the World's most congested airports and there is no question we are facing an airport capacity crunch in the coming decades," said Olivier Jankovec, head of airport trade association ACI Europe.
"Developing airport capacity has become increasingly difficult in many European countries - due to a lack of political support," he told AFP.
Eurocontrol, Europe's air traffic management body, estimates that by 2030, one percent of passenger demand will go unmet due to inadequate airport infrastructure.
"It's clear that airport infrastructure, in Europe in particular, is not keeping pace with the projected growth that we see," IATA director general Willie Walsh said in December.
"That's different from what we see in the Asia-Pacific region," he said.
New mega-airports able to handle 100 to 200 million passengers annually have been opened or planned in Istanbul, Riyadh, and Dubai.
India has doubled its number of airports in the past decade to 157, with plans to have as many as 400 by 2047.
Jankovec warned that failing to boost airport capacity to meet demand "will come at high cost for Europe's economy and its competitiveness, and also for its global position".
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