UK approves plans for new runway at Gatwick Airport

BRITAIN’S transport department on Sunday approved a £2.2-billion (S$3.8 billion) 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 emissions and the needs of the aviation industry, a strategic sector that has seen demand grow.

Gatwick Airport, located south of London, is the UK’s second-busiest international airport after Heathrow, and Europe’s busiest single-runway air hub, with more than 43 million passengers using it last year.

The privately funded plan will involve the airport moving its emergency runway 12 m 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.

“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.

He said the plan would create thousands of jobs and “unlock significant growth, tourism and trade benefits for London Gatwick and the UK”.

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Heathrow’s £21-billion 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.

Both airport expansion plans have drawn criticism from environmental groups and residents worried about noise. AFP