Government minded to green light Gatwick expansion

(Sharecast News) - The UK government is poised to approve a second runway at Gatwick, it was confirmed on Thursday, just weeks after the chancellor back a similar expansion at Heathrow. In a written ministerial statement, transport secretary Heidi Alexander said she was "minded to approve" the £2.2bn construction project.

The Planning Inspectorate has recommended Gatwick's privately-financed proposal as it currently stands is rejected. But unusually, it said it would likely approve the application should changes be made, such as noise mitigation and agreeing what proportion of passengers should travel to the airport on public transport.

Alexander gave Gatwick a deadline of 24 April to tweak its plans, with a final decision now due on 27 October.

Situated around 30 miles south of London, Gatwick is currently Europe's busiest single runway airport, with more than 40m passengers using it last year. During busy periods, there can be 55 take-offs and landings an hour.

Gatwick wants to move its northern runway, which is currently only used for taxiing or as a back-up, and make fully operational by the end of the decade.

The airport, which unlike Heathrow is used predominantly for short-haul holiday destinations, believes the project will increase the number of departures by 50,000 a year by the end of the 2030s.

Unite, which represents 7,000 workers at Gatwick, backed the expansion, arguing that it would boost "highly skilled, well-paid, unionised jobs".

However, some environmental groups and residents are opposed to further expansion at Gatwick.

Last month Rachel Reeves cited the need to grow the economy as a core reason for backing a third runway at Heathrow, which has also faced similar opposition.