Hotels tycoon Surinder Arora is rekindling his bid to build a rival terminal at Heathrow as ministers delay a final decision on the building of the airport’s third runway.

Mr Arora, a former Heathrow airport baggage handler who is now worth an estimated £1.2bn, is understood to have held talks with the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority regarding his plans.

Mr Arora, 63, wants to build a new terminal on Heathrow-owned land. Industry sources said that one option was for the terminal to be dedicated for Virgin Atlantic, Air France and Delta flights.

But a source close to the billionaire insisted that the terminal would not be limited to specific airlines at this time.

The Arora Group originally planned a new terminal at Heathrow as part of a rival expansion scheme costing £14bn that would negate the need for a third runway.

The proposals, which aimed to increase Heathrow’s capacity by up to 40m passengers a year, were shelved after the pandemic hit.

The new plans being discussed with the Government and regulators are understood to envisage a smaller terminal that will service an extra 18m passengers annually. Representatives for Mr Arora declined to comment.

Getting the go-ahead from Heathrow to build a new terminal on its land is likely to be fraught with complications – not least because airport bosses still want to go ahead with their own expansion plans.