Gatwick chief welcomes Chancellor's support on airport growth

It was reported that the Chancellor was expected to give the go ahead to expansion plans at London Gatwick, a third runway at Heathrow and increased capacity at Luton Airport in her speech in Oxfordshire.

But her speech only focussed mainly on Heathrow.

The Chancellor said: “Heathrow is at the heart of the openness of the UK as a country, it connects us to emerging markets all over the world, opening up new opportunities for growth. Around three quarters of all long haul flights from the UK go from Heathrow, over 60% of UK air fright comes through Heathrow and around 15 million business travellers used Heathrow in 2023.

“But for decades, its growth has been constrained.”

Ms Reeves added: “There are two live decisions to be made on Luton and at Gatwick which will be made by the Transport secretary shortly.

The Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to make a decision on London Gatwick’s Northern Runway plans on February 27.

Mr Wingate said: “We welcome the support shown by the Chancellor in backing airport growth. Our privately financed, £2.2 billion shovel-ready plans to bring the Northern Runway into routine use will create 14,000 jobs and generate £1 billion a year in economic benefits.

“The Government has made it clear they do not want to delay major infrastructure projects and our privately financed, deliverable plans can be a major part of the drive for UK growth.

“We are already contributing over £5.5billion to the UK economy and supporting more than 76,000 jobs, but unless we can access greater airport capacity the UK will miss out on opportunities to enhance global connectivity and unlock further opportunities for trade, tourism and job creation.

“The project, which is due for a government decision by the end of February, could be operational by the end of the decade, if approved with the right conditions to allow quick implementation.

"We have put forward a strong and compelling case focused around making best use of our existing infrastructure, minimising noise and environmental impacts and meeting the four ‘tests’ for airport expansion set by Labour.”

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Gatwick’s £2.2 billion privately-financed project, which was first muted seven years ago, is expected to create around 14,000 new jobs and inject £1 billion into the region's economy every year.

The plan will see the current Northern Runway moved by 12 metres and brought into more routine use.

If approved, the plan would be one of the largest capital investment projects in the region in decades. And it would help the airport meet future passenger demand by serving around 75 million passengers a year by the late 2030s.

Campaign group CAGNE said they will legally challenge a decision to allow two runway operations at Gatwick ‘as there were so many flaws in the evidence provided by Gatwick at the DCO hearings, this news story, if factual, is just another reason to challenge a new runway decision’.