easyJet (London Luton) would consider setting up shop at London Heathrow should the airport move ahead with a much needed third runway. The construction of the additional track is seen as critical to both alleviating congestion as well as driving down the cost of slots at the west London airport.

During her address to a Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC) conference in Marrakech last week, easyJet CEO Carolyn McCall said her airline had come close to using Heathrow for the launch of its maiden Moscow Domodedovo services only to switch to London Gatwick at the last moment.

“Genuinely, we considered it for Moscow,” Travel Weekly quoted her as saying. “We have 10 aircraft at Paris CDG and we’re the second-biggest carrier at Amsterdam Schiphol. But Heathrow is an expensive airport so it would be about getting the right price.”

The British LCC is indeed serious about its Heathrow options with The Daily Telegraph having recently revealed that the carrier has applied to attend meetings of the London City Airport Consultative Committee which represents the “operational and strategic” interest of carriers operating out of Heathrow. easyJet's interest is said to focus on Heathrow's future plans in particular.

Both Heathrow and Gatwick have submitted proposals to the UK's Airports (Davies) Commission for their respective expansion plans which include a second runway for Gatwick and either a third runway for Heathrow, or extending the northern runway to the west.

A decision is due in 2015.

McCall refused to comment on Gatwick's proposal despite her airline being the largest operator there.

“I don’t know how a second runway would impact us yet. I haven’t seen any economics or a business case yet, so until we see the numbers we will reserve judgement,” she said.

The announcement of easyjet’s interest in Heathrow could prove critical given Gatwick's push to market itself to LCCs on the grounds that its competitor is, and will be, too costly for them to operate from.

On a final note, McCall dispelled rumours easyjet was planning to follow local rival Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) into the long-haul market saying it would “distract” the LCC from "its core short-haul offering across Europe."