article: The airport's submission to the Davies Commission, which is looking at raising airport capacity, outlined a runway to the north, north-west or south-west of the existing airport. It said a new runway could be in place by 2029, allowing 260,000 more flights. Residents, environmentalists and the London mayor oppose Heathrow's plans. Heathrow submitted its options to the government-appointed Airports Commission, headed by former Financial Services Authority chairman Sir Howard Davies. It is reviewing how the UK might expand its airport capacity in south-east England and interested parties have until Friday 19 July to submit their preferred options. By Robert PestonBusiness editor Ahead of submitting its proposals on Friday, Gatwick bosses said this week that they would prefer "a constellation system of three London airports - keeping Heathrow open, whilst building an additional runway at Gatwick, and then perhaps in time a new runway at Stansted". On Monday, Mayor of London Boris Johnson published proposals for three possible replacement hubs - an artificial island in the Thames Estuary dubbed "Boris Island", a major expansion at Stansted, or an airport at the Isle of Grain in north Kent. The commission is expected to recommend options by the end of this year, but will not submit its final report until summer 2015 - after the next general election. According to Heathrow's submission, building a new runway would deliver extra capacity at the airport by 2025-29 and would allow it to operate 740,000 flights a year - up from the current limit of 480,000. Heathrow's preferred option would be to place a new runway to the north-west or the south-west of the airport. This would "deliver a full-length third runway while minimising the impact on the local community". The submission also detailed how a new westerly runway would help reduce noise pollution because planes would not have to fly so low over London. It predicted that, even with a third runway, there would be 10-20% fewer people affected by noise under its new plans. Each of the options would mean the compulsory purchase of some properties and some property demolitions, as well as potentially major work on the M25. Stanwell Moor is a village near Heathrow and one of its councillors said it would "get completely destroyed" under one of the options. By Richard WestcottBBC transport correspondent I've just been looking back through my notes from last year, when I talked to government officials about the prospect of building a third runway at Heathrow. They told me it was "dead and buried" and said they'd look at "all ideas bar a third runway". Back then we also had a Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, who lived under the flight path and had campaigned against the plan. What a difference to today, when a third runway at the UK's biggest and busiest airport is very much back on the table. This is a big week for airports. By Friday, we'll know all the different suggestions on how they could expand. But don't let all this apparent momentum fool you. This is one of the thorniest issues in politics,
summary: Heathrow Airport has unveiled three options for a new runway, saying each one would be "quicker and cheaper" than plans for a rival hub airport.