Gatwick submits plans for second runway to double passenger numbers

Date added: 8 July, 2023

Gatwick has formally submitted plans for a £2.2bn second runway, as the airport looks to double its passenger numbers to 75 million a year. There are the usual claims of more jobs and “a £1bn annual boost to the region”, which ignores the impact of yet more holiday flights, taking money out of the region and reducing tourism spend in the UK. The additional flights would significantly worsen noise and air pollution, as well as carbon emissions, from the airport. The 30,000-page application for a Development Consent Order to convert its standby runway for routine use was lodged with the Planning Inspectorate on 6th. The process is expected to take about a year before it reaches the Transport Secretary for final approval. The project will convert the emergency runway by moving its centreline 12 metres north, allowing planes to take off while others come in to land on the existing runway. There are road changes with additional local road lanes and flyovers. Gatwick has hopes work will start in 2025 for the runway to be in use by 2030. The political decision may potentially be just before or after a general election in 2025. The extra million tonnes of CO2 per year are totally inappropriate, with worsening climate change and global heating already apparent.

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Gatwick submits plans for second runway to double passenger numbers

Airport says runway will generate £1bn for region but campaigners argue it will worsen pollution and emissions

Gwyn Topham and Simrin Rahman (Guardian)

Thu 6 Jul 2023

London Gatwick has formally submitted plans for a £2.2bn second runway, as the airport looks to double its passenger numbers to 75 million a year.

Gatwick said the planned runway would generate 14,000 jobs and bring a £1bn annual boost to the region.

Campaigners said the additional flights would significantly worsen noise and air pollution, as well as carbon emissions, from the airport.

The Sussex airport’s 30,000-page application for a development consent order to convert its standby runway for routine use was lodged with the Planning Inspectorate on Thursday. The process is expected to take about a year before it reaches the transport secretary for final approval.

Stewart Wingate, Gatwick’s chief executive, said the scheme would “help secure the long-term future of the airport and economic prosperity” in 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,” he added.

The project will convert a taxiway used as an emergency runway by moving its centreline 12 metres north, allowing planes to take off while others come in to land on the existing runway.

Most construction will be within the airport perimeter, bar stretches of additional local road lanes and flyovers, and Gatwick has said it hopes work will start in 2025 for the runway to be in use by 2030.

With a decision potentially landing just before or after a general election, Wingate said the plan should “stand on its own merits irrespective of party politics”. He insisted the plan met current government policy of “maximising the use of existing runways”, and was compatible with the “jet zero” ambition for net zero flying by 2050.

However, the airport has lost significant support from key political figures and last week the committee on climate change urged the government to pause any further airport expansion to meet the UK’s 2050 net zero commitments.

A spokesperson for the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who was previously a vocal backer of Gatwick’s plans, said he was “committed to making London net zero by 2030 and reducing air pollution. The aviation sector needs to play a part in this and not undermine our efforts to achieve this goal.

“The mayor fails to see how any airport expansion can be justified if it is incompatible with tackling the climate crisis and achieving our net zero targets.”

Gatwick said regional opinion was now largely supportive, with a YouGov poll suggesting 78% of people in surrounding counties being in favour of the plans.

Tim Norwood, Gatwick’s development director, said the perception had shifted during the pandemic, when the airport was largely closed and the neighbouring town of Crawley was labelled the “furlough capital of the UK”. He added: “People realised they needed Gatwick to thrive – we do rely on a lot of local residents to work at the airport, they say we need Gatwick for the area and jobs.”

Despite some pledges by the airport to mitigate noise, Peter Barclay, the chair of the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign, said the local impacts would be “devastating”, and accused the airport of continuing to “push for unsustainable growth simply to benefit its shareholders”.

Sally Pavey, of the Communities Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions group, said the airport was seeking to get a second runway “through the back door” after the Airports Commission judged only Heathrow should expand. She added that Gatwick’s expansion would add more than a million tonnes of carbon emissions a year.

Wingate said after the decision, Gatwick had “dusted itself down and looked to maximise the use of its existing facilities”. Norwood said its the airport’s carbon dioxide emissions would rise by 16% after the expansion.

Alex Chapman, a senior researcher at the New Economics Foundation thinktank, estimated the additional cost of emissions from expansion to be £13bn.

He said: “The primary function of Gatwick is to send British tourists overseas, encouraging them to spend money abroad. When you consider how much carbon emissions are going to cost us in the future, the economics of ballooning air travel don’t stack up.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jul/06/gatwick-submits-plans-for-second-runway-airport

https://www.mediacentre.gatwickairport.com/news/london-gatwicks-growth-plans-expected-to-boost-regions-economy-by-ps1-billion-every-year-and-generate-14-000-new-jobs-77af-40f32.html.

Also

Gatwick’s press release:

London Gatwick’s growth plans expected to boost region’s economy by £1 billion every year and generate 14,000 new jobs

July 6, 2023

London Gatwick submits planning application to bring its existing Northern Runway into routine use to improve resilience and increase capacity

78% of residents, who expressed an opinion, support Gatwick’s plans, and the economic boost and new jobs they will provide for the region

Significant commitments given to local communities include legally binding agreements to control noise and reduce carbon emissions

Major road improvements include a flyover to separate airport and local traffic

“Our innovative Northern Runway plan will help secure economic prosperity for thousands of families, businesses, and future generations across the region” Gatwick CEO

London Gatwick has today submitted an application – known as a Development Consent Order (DCO) – to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS), outlining its ambition to bring the airport’s existing Northern Runway into routine use alongside its Main Runway.

By investing in its long-term future, London Gatwick will also enhance the crucial economic role it plays by creating around 14,000 new jobs and injecting £1 billion into the region’s economy every year. This growth would come from increased tourism, trade, supply-chain, and other business opportunities.

This forward-looking and low impact plan aims to leverage the airport’s existing infrastructure to unlock new capacity and improve airport resilience, in line with government policy.

Stewart Wingate, CEO, Gatwick Airport said: “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’.

“The consultation and engagement activity over the past two years has been hugely valuable in shaping our plans to ensure they best meet the needs and requirements of local people, as well as our airlines, passengers and other stakeholders. We are confident that our plans are both economically and environmentally robust.”

Support for airport’s growth plans

London Gatwick’s growth plans have significant support from residents across Sussex, Surrey, and Kent, according to a recent YouGov poll of over 3,000 people.

Eight out of ten (78%) residents – who expressed an opinion – said they supported Gatwick’s Northern Runway plans, with two out of ten (22%) opposing. 70% of residents also said they think the airport’s plans are important for the region’s economy, while 73% say they are important for job creation. Only 16% and 15%respectively said they were not important for either.

The breakdown of jobs includes:

Over 3,000 new jobs based on the airport
2,000 new jobs within supply chains of airport businesses, such as aircraft part manufacturers or maintenance firms, located elsewhere
1,300 additional jobs supported by these new employees spending their wages in local economy
7,600 further jobs generated in businesses located in the region that benefit from the additional connectivity and economic activity the airport’s plans would deliver.
Legally binding environmental commitments

As part of the submission to PINS London Gatwick has also made some legally binding commitments, to ensure it controls noise levels and reduces carbon emissions under the airport’s direct control.

A legally binding ‘noise envelope’ will commit to reducing noise over time. This commitment ensures that within 9 years of the Northern Runway opening the airport’s operations will generate less noise than in 2019, when the airport last operated at full capacity. The Northern Runway will not be used routinely – in conjunction with the main runway – between 2300 to 0600 each day. An industry leading noise insulation scheme would also see the numbers of eligible homes increase from the current 2,000 to 4,300.

London Gatwick recently announced a £250 million investment to accelerate its plan to be net zero for its own Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 2030, 10 years earlier than previously planned and to commit to this as part of a Carbon Action Plan submitted with our application.

The Northern Runway Project

The Northern Runway is currently limited to acting as a taxiway, only available when the Main Runway is out of use. Today’s application proposes repositioning the centre line of the Northern Runway 12 metres north to allow dual runway operations, aligning with international safety standards. The Northern Runway would be used for departing flights only.

Construction could start in 2025 and be completed and ready for operational use by the end of the decade. The proposals are low impact, with most construction taking place within the current airport boundary.

If approved the plans would help the airport meet future passenger demand by serving around 75 million passengers a year by the late 2030s.

NOTES

Read more on London Gatwick’s Northern Runway plans here

The planning process

The submission forms part of the DCO process managed by PINS. The proposals have been shaped by a programme of assessments including community and stakeholder engagements, and public consultations, spanning nearly two years. A statutory public consultation was undertaken in Autumn 2021 and a second focused public consultation took place in Summer 2022 on the airport’s revised plans for the roads around the airport. These plans changed in response to feedback received during the Autumn 2021 consultation.

The proposed investment to improve roads around the airport includes adding capacity and improving traffic flow by separating local and airport traffic with flyover’s at both the airport’s South Terminal and North Terminal roundabouts. It also includes new lane westbound over the Brighton main rail line, and a third lane to the A23 approaching Longbridge roundabout. New walking and cycling access proposals are also included.

If accepted for examination by PINS all of London Gatwick’s application documents will be published on the PINS website and a period of examination will follow, with interested parties able to become involved in the process. (read more on the six stages of the DCO regime).

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Gatwick submits plans for second runway to double passenger numbers

Gatwick submits plans for second runway to double passenger numbers

London Gatwick’s growth plans expected to boost region’s economy by £1 billion every year and generate 14,000 new jobs

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