Do you remember the 21st night of September? Well, airport-afficionados of the capital city certainly will from now on, because it was the night that the UK government officially approved the plans for a second runway to be built at Gatwick Airport. And the runway in question could be ready for take off by 2029.
London Gatwick Airport is currently one of the busiest single-runway airports in the world. The aviation hub sees around 40 million passengers pass through its terminals each year, but the £2.2 billion expansion plans could see that passenger number double over the next ten to fifteen years.
Gatwick Airport’s second runway
Now, you may not know this, but Gatwick Airport is actually already home to two runways. The UK’s second-largest airport boasts a main runway and a standby runway (the latter being primarily used for taxiing aircrafts or when the main runway is out of use). The proposed plans would see the spare runway be brought into permanent use. But unfortunately it isn’t quite that simple. To adhere to the strict aviation safety rules, the standby runway will need to be moved 12 metres north before it can be regularly used.
The second runway will be used by narrow-bodied aircrafts (such as the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320) for short-haul flights. This will free up capacity for more long-haul flights to take off from the main runway. Gatwick currently handles around 280,000 flights a yearbut – if all goes to plan – this number could soar to 389,000 annual flights. The airport expansion would also see both terminals extended, the existing taxiways remodeled and replaced, and new aircraft gates installed.
The plans were approved by the UK’s Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexanderwho hailed the plans a ‘no-brainer’ for economic growth. The new runway will supposedly create around 14,000 jobs and could generate a rather hefty £1 billion in economic activity. Of course, the approved plans have not been met with open arms by everyone, though. The new Green Party leader, Zack Polanskifor example, has described the expansion as a ‘disaster’ for the climate crisis.
Local residents and campaigners have also expressed concerns regarding the new runway’s impact on surface transport, noise pollution, housing, and wastewater. But the airport has claimed to have conducted a ‘full and thorough assessment’ regarding those issues.
