London Gatwick Airport Submits Plans For A Second Runway

London Gatwick Airport (LGW) has submitted its proposal for a £2.2 billion ($2.8 billion) expansion project that would see its northern runway enter routine use. If approved, the expansion would enable the airport to up its passenger capacity to around 75 million per year.

Gatwick applies for second runway expansion

London’s second-busiest airport formally submitted its application – known as a Development Consent Order (DCO) – to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) on Thursday after reviving its plans for a second runway in 2021. The expansion will create around 14,000 new jobs and, once complete, contribute around £1 billion to the region’s economy each year.

Stewart Wingate, CEO of Gatwick Airport, commented,

“The Northern Runway plan will help secure the long-term future of the airport and economic prosperity for thousands of families, businesses, and future generations across the region. If approved, our plan will also improve airport resilience, meet future passenger demand, and increase competition in the London airport market, by providing vital new international connections to support ‘Global Britain’.”

Photo: Gatwick Airport

Currently, Gatwick’s northern runway is used for taxiing or when the airport’s main runway is out of use, but it would enter routine use under proposals – the project would see its center line repositioned 12 meters north to enable dual-usage with Gatwick’s main runway. The northern runway would be used for “smaller departing aircraft only,” which includes popular narrowbodies like the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737.

The approval process for the 30,000-page application is expected to take around one year, and would then go to the UK’s Transport Secretary for final approval.

With a second runway, yearly flight numbers would increase from 285,000 to 386,000, amounting to around 275 additional flights per day. This would bring it to within 20% of London Heathrow Airport’s (LHR) current flight movements, although Heathrow has its own plans for a third runway in the works.

Gatwick has faced major opposition to its growth ambitions over the years, particularly regarding the environmental impact of any expansion. Along with an increase in noise emissions for local residents and wildlife, environmental campaigners claim a second runway will hamper industry-wide efforts to achieve net-zero by 2050.

Peter Barclay from Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign said,

“We consider that Gatwick is busy enough. Carbon emission has to be our greatest concern. We have to think about the future for our children and our grandchildren and future generations. There will be an increase in noise, particularly in the first few years.”

Gatwick says its proposal “will be delivered in a sustainable way which helps to achieve the government’s overall goal of net zero emissions by 2050,” whilst pointing to a YouGov poll that showed 78% of local residents who expressed an opinion are in favor of its plans. It has also made legally-binding commitments to reducing noise emissions, stating it will generate less noise within nine years of the second runway opening compared to 2019 levels.

Open by 2030

If all goes to plan, Gatwick says work on the second runway could begin in 2025 and be operational by the end of the decade. However, as reported by The Guardian, the project has lost support from key political figures, including government advisory group The Climate Change Committee, which has stated no expansion should go ahead until a UK-wide climate framework is implemented.