London Gatwick airport's £2.2 billion Northern Runway plans: This is when economy will see the benefits IF plans get given green light

The airport has been going through an examination process this year and that ended in August. The Planning Inspectorate is due to submit its report to Secretary of State Yvette Cooper next week (by the end of November).

Gatwick will be informed the report has been submitted to the Government, but they will not see the report at that stage.

The Secretary of State then has three months to consider it before making a decision at the end of February 2025. The plans will see the current emergency runway brought into more routine use, serving around 75 million passengers by the late 2030s.

And at this week’s London Gatwick Economic Summit, the airport’s CEO Stewart Wingate said he hoped they would get the go ahead.

"It's a project which we've been working on for about seven years now and we're getting very close to finding out what the government decision is,” he said.

“Tim Norwood has been leading this work and it's very important for the airport.

“By the late 2030s there's no reason why the airport shouldn’t grow to 75 million passengers should this £2.2 billion project, which would be fully privately funded, be given the go-ahead in the new year.

"If it is given the go-ahead, which we very much hope it will be, 14,000 additional jobs across the region will be created, adding a further £1 billion to the regional economy.

So, from our perspective, this is an incredibly important project. We've worked really hard, so we're hoping early in the new year that finally, after seven years of work, we will have permission to take this project forward to the benefit of the regional economy.”

At Gatwick’s third annual Economic Summit, where they launched an Airport Economic Zone to promote long-term sustainable economic growth and inward investment, Paul Marshall, leader of West Sussex County Council, asked: “An extra 14,000 jobs and an additional £1 billion on GVA (Gross Value Added) – If the Northern Runway does get passed, when do you think those numbers will be realised?”

Mr Wingate replied: “ When we look at the Northern Runway, we'll get the decision, hopefully in February of next year. And then what we'll do is start to complete all of the detailed design works, and then move into the construction phases.

“I think at the earliest, we start to see the beneficial use of the Northern Runway around about the turn of this decade. So let's say maybe the early 2030s, just given where we are now with time.

“But the runway itself actually fills up relatively quickly, once it's open. So not only are we developing the runway, but we also have to develop the surface access, road network, and the terminal facilities. We're going to be quite busy doing all of that in pretty short order, you'll start to see that £1 billion of economic value-added flow, probably around about the mid-2030s.

"But we expect it to fill up quickly. There's a lot of pent-up demand.”

Mardi Roberts, director of communications at Ridgeview Wine Estate, who are part of the new Airport Economic Zone taskforce, says they are hopeful the runway gets given the go ahead. “We see Sussex and southern England as a thriving tourism destination and we see being able to open that up to more around the world can only really benefit our local economy, investment, investment in tourism and in driving jobs and people to our area,” she said.

"That will also improve our access to skills as well.”