An injection of taxpayer funds would, therefore, be required to justify the costs, the airport said, although that could potentially breach state aid rules.
Gatwick has published a report listing 10 reasons why Heathrow expansion would be bad for Britain in a last ditch attempt to persuade the Airports Commission, chaired by Sir Howard Davies, that its own proposals should be included on a short-list to be published on Tuesday.
Sir Howard will slim down 58 recommendations for increasing runway capacity in the South East to just a handful of options to be taken forward for further investigation.
“There are some who call for the Commission to recommend more than one new runway, perhaps at both Heathrow and Gatwick,” Gatwick says in the report.
“We do not believe that this would be viable in the light of forecast traffic growth, and would therefore not be possible without massive (and potentially illegal) public subsidies.
“The commission must make a clear recommendation on where the next runway should be located.”
Rival airports have been growing increasingly concerned amid speculation this week that Sir Howard could short-list three potential options for runway expansion in the South East – all including at least one extra air strip at Heathrow.
Unsubstantiated rumours have been circulating that the short-list will involve a third runway at Heathrow, a four-runway hub at Heathrow and an extra runway at both Heathrow and Gatwick, while proposals for a new hub airport in the Thames Estuary or at Stansted could be ditched.
Charlie Cornish, chief executive of Stansted’s owner, Manchester Airports Group, said: “We firmly believe all credible options should be considered and taken forward for more detailed assessment during the next phase of the process.
“This is not, and should not be a two horse race.”
A Heathrow spokesman said: “There is a clear business case for a third runway at Heathrow regardless of whether Gatwick is also permitted to expand. We do not agree with Gatwick’s stance that there can only be one new runway in the South East and we would welcome a solution in which both airports were allowed to grow to deliver choice for passengers and airlines.”
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Gatwick chairman says Gatwick could not get their money back on a 2nd runway if Heathrow builds a 3rd
Date added: December 12, 2013
Gatwick’s Chairman says it will not build a second runway if the British government allows a simultaneous expansion at Heathrow. Roy McNulty said building a Gatwick 2nd runway was a “bet the company type of investment” and the timescale of getting returns on the project would double if Heathrow was allowed to expand at the same time. He said Gatwick would also be wary if it was only allowed to expand sometime after Heathrow constructed a 3rd runway. Heathrow would remove the traffic Gatwick would need to run a new runway profitably. His comments were prompted by the leak, a week early, of the Airports Commission’s interim report and its shortlist of schemes for new runways – all of which appear to involve another runway at Heathrow. Gatwick, owned by GIP (who are likely to want to sell it before 2020) suggested in July that they could build a new runway for around £9 billion, rather than over £14 billion for one at Heathrow. lt could take a decade to build either – if they could indeed ever get planning permission and meet all social and environmental constraints.
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