Walsh: Heathrow third runway is dead and BA will expand abroad

British Airways has conceded that the third runway project at Heathrow is "dead" and said it will now look to expand abroad, it emerged today.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA's parent company, International Airlines Group, admitted for the first time that a new runway will never be built at the airport because of the Government's decision last year to cancel expansion.

Mr Walsh made the comments after a speech by Boris Johnson in which the Mayor called Heathrow "miserable" and again urged the Government to fund an airport in the Thames Estuary. Mr Walsh said: "I agree the third runway will never be built at Heathrow. It's dead."

BA had called for a third runway at Heathrow for more than 10 years. The scheme was approved by the Labour government in 2009 but was scrapped after last year's general election. Mr Walsh said that BA is now increasingly looking to expand overseas since its merger with Spanish airline Iberia in January.

His comments came after the Mayor challenged the Government over approving his £40 billion Thames Estuary airport project. Mr Johnson said: "If BA is telling us that in order to expand it has to go to Madrid, that's pretty serious."

The Mayor said that building a second hub airport in the estuary to ease congestion at Heathrow would be "the most powerful single statement we could make about the ambition of this country".

Mr Johnson, who was against the third runway, added: "We're on the verge of making a historic mistake over provision of aviation capacity. Heathrow is perpetually struggling to fit a quart into a pint pot. It's no wonder the Heathrow experience can be so miserable.

"If we continue with our current zero-growth approach in aviation capacity we will do serious damage to the economy." He called on David Cameron and George Osborne to fund the estuary scheme.