Gatwick Airport unveils £500m plans for second runway

25 August 2021, 20:51

Plans for a second runway at Gatwick Airport

Gatwick Airport has confirmed plans to bring its Northern Runway back to regular use despite the collapse in demand caused by the pandemic.

The extension to the UK's second biggest airport is set to create 18,000 jobs and will align with the government's policy of "making the best use of existing runways".

The changes, which are set to be complete by 2029, will be delivered in a "sustainable way", Gatwick claims.

The emergency runway is currently used as a taxiway or when the main runway is closed due to maintenance or incidents.

Under the plans, the emergency runway would be used for departures of smaller planes.

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The extension would allow Gatwick to increase its annual passenger capacity from 62 million to 75 million by 2038.

The airport's chief executive, Stewart Wingate, admitted that "things are not normal at Gatwick today", as continued uncertainty over changing travel rules sees people opt for holidays closer to home.

But he insisted that "now is the right time" to launch a 12-week public consultation on using the emergency runway as there will be "a requirement for airport expansion by the late 2020s".

Gatwick first suggested in October 2018 that the emergency runway could be brought into routine use.

The airport expects pre-pandemic traffic levels will return by 2025 or 2026, after only around one million passengers travelled through the airport in the first seven months of this year.

That total was reached after just 10 days in 2019.

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Gatwick Airport CEO on building back after pandemic

Mr Wingate said: "While we are currently experiencing low passenger and air traffic volumes due to the global pandemic, we are confident that Gatwick will not only fully recover to previous passenger levels, but has the potential to continue to grow back into one of Europe's premier airports."

The airport said its plan would generate approximately 18,400 additional jobs by 2038 and boost its contribution to the region's economy in Gross Value Added by £1.5 billion.

Local campaign group Communities Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions claimed the plan "flies in the face of the climate emergency, we are all facing".

It said: "It is despicable for a company to ignore the emissions that planes in and out of Gatwick produce, that is causing grave danger for future generations that will have to pay the price for today's greed of this leisure airport."

The public consultation will open on September 9.