Months after Heathrow announced plans for a third runway, Britain’s transport department authorized an o2.2-billion ($2.96-billion) plan for a new runway at London’s Gatwick Airport on Sunday, according to a government document.
These kinds of developments are uncommon in Europe, where nations are divided between reducing greenhouse gas emissions and meeting the demands of the aviation sector, a vital business with rising demand.
With almost 43 million passengers each year, Gatwick Airport, which lies south of London, is the largest single-runway air hub in Europe and the second-busiest international airport in the UK behind Heathrow.
According to a Department of Transport document, the privately funded plan calls for the airport to move its emergency runway 12 meters (yards) north in order to make it fully operational.
This will allow it to be used by around 100,000 more flights a year. Last year, the airport handled around 261,000 flights.
UK media reported the department thought the plan was a “no-brainer for growth” and that capacity constraints were “holding back business, trade and tourism”, citing government sources.
Flights could take off from the new runway by 2029, media reported.
“After a lengthy and rigorous planning process, we welcome the government’s approval of plans to bring our Northern Runway into routine use, ahead of the expected deadline,” said Stewart Wingate, UK managing director of VINCI Airports, which owns Gatwick.
The idea, he claimed, would “unlock significant growth, tourism and trade benefits for London Gatwick and the UK” in addition to creating thousands of jobs.
After years of legal battle, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government finally backed Heathrow’s o21-billion third runway proposal in January. The administration is eager to get big infrastructure projects underway in the hopes of boosting Britain’s faltering economy.
Environmental organizations and locals concerned about noise have criticized both airport expansion ideas.
