HEATHROW will become the biggest as well as the busiest airport in the world under plans unveiled by Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon today.

Although Mr Hoon revealed an intricate deal of safeguards and sweeteners, the go-ahead for a third runway and Terminal Six will have a huge impact on both London and the UK.

Attempting to reassure the environmental lobby, he threw out Heathrow's proposal for "mixed mode" operations, where take-offs and landings would take place on both existing runways. He said two powerful watchdogs would guard over noise and pollution. Although the new runway will be built earlier than expected - to be finished early in the period between 2015 and 2020 - the airlines will not be allowed to use it fully until they switch to new low-noise, low-emission aircraft, he pledged.

Mr Hoon also sweetened the pill by promising moves to develop a high-speed rail line linking London, Heathrow and the North. Painting the airport expansion as one part of a major review of transport capacity, he announced funding for extra motorway capacity and more railway electrification.

Mr Hoon calmly ignored protests from MPs in the Commons and ran through what he claimed would be swift and lasting benefits. He said: "This third runway will help secure jobs now and in the future and ensure that Britain remains a place where the world can come to do business."

Labour's backing for the third runway was agreed in 2003 subject to assurances that noise and emissions limits could be met, along with improvements to passenger access to the airport. There was no surprise when Mr Hoon declared that the official consultation had cleared the proposals on all three grounds.

But in a significant concession, he said permission for new flights would be subject to agreement by the Civil Aviation Authority that air quality and noise standards were being met. The third runway will increase flight capacity from 480,000 a year to 702,000 by 2030 but it will not initially be allowed to run more than 125,000 flights a year. Extra flights will be deemed "green slots" only to be allocated to new breeds of airliner under development that give out less noise and pollution.

Opposition MPs jeered that these were "fantasy aircraft" because they only existed on the drawing board but Mr Hoon said his aim was to create a massive incentive for the industry to go green more quickly.

The rejection of mixed-mode operations was welcomed by Labour MPs for a swathe of London and the South-East that had faced increased noise, including Watford, Barking, Rainham, Barnet and Reading.

Mr Hoon said: "People who live around the airport clearly value runway alternation and that is why I have rejected more intensive use of the existing runways through mixed mode."

But he announced he was scrapping the Cranford agreement, which bans easterly take-offs when the wind is blowing from the east. "This will benefit the residents of Windsor and others to the west of the airport, and Hatton and North Feltham to the east," he said. However critics said that other areas would suffer more noise.

Mr Hoon said: "Transport is the lifeblood of Britain's economy. Heathrow is vital to our economy. It connects us to the growth markets of the future, essential for every great trading nation.

"But for too long it has operated at full capacity, losing ground to international hub airports in other countries and with relatively minor problems causing severe delays to passengers."

Details of the complex package were only hammered out late last night after Cabinet colleagues Ed Miliband and Hilary Benn - the Climate Change Secretary and the Environment Secretary - demanded tougher assurances, including independent watchdogs to safeguard air quality.

Major rail improvements including high-speed lines from Heathrow and London are being promised. Costs and route proposals will be ready by the end of the year, said Mr Hoon.

The rail links will use some new as well as existing lines. A Government-owned company - High Speed 2 - is being formed to develop plans to forge a fast link from London to Scotland, starting with "an entirely new line" between London and the West Midlands. Heathrow's two current runways are 3,902metres and 3,658metres long. The third - 2,200metres - would "accommodate an efficient mix of all but the largest four-engined aircraft," according to the Department for Transport.

The new Terminal Six would take 35 million passengers a year, equivalent to Terminal 5 and the whole of Gatwick.

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