A second runway will enable Gatwick to handle an extra 100,000 flights a year. Last year, the airport had about 261,000 flights. Photo / 123rf
A second runway will enable Gatwick to handle an extra 100,000 flights a year. Last year, the airport had about 261,000 flights. Photo / 123rf
Britain’s transport department today approved a £2.2 billion ($5b) plan for a new runway at London’s Gatwick Airport, months after Heathrow unveiled plans for a third runway, according to a government document.
Such expansions are rare in Europe, where countries are split between efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissionsand the needs of the aviation industry, a strategic sector that has seen demand grow.
Gatwick Airport, located south of London, is the United Kingdom’s second-busiest international airport after Heathrow, and Europe’s busiest single-runway air hub, with over 43 million passengers using it last year.
The privately funded plan will involve the airport moving its emergency runway 12m north to allow it to be fully functional, according to a Department of Transport document.
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.
Heathrow’s £21b third runway plan was backed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Government in January after years of legal wrangling, with the administration keen to get large infrastructure projects off the ground in hopes of reviving Britain’s stuttering economy.
