A key part of Gatwick’s growth plan is a £2.2bn scheme to dramatically increase capacity by bringing its emergency runway into routine use . It is a huge deal, but the proposals are actually a lot more modest than Heathrow’s expansion plans, which the head of IATA, Willie Walsh, said last week were already dead and buried.
It would essentially involve moving the current runway line around 12 metres from its current position and building new hotels and infrastructure within the airport perimeter. That’s a far cry from Heathrow’s plot to tunnel under a key section of the M25 while building an entirely new strip. Veteran chief executive Stewart Wingate won’t be drawn on whether he thinks his West London rival will ever follow through.
“I think they are definitely years behind us now, but I think I’d rather focus on the merits of our scheme,” he told City A.M. “I think it’s incredibly important for the UK to, as an island nation, to have peak slots available into London and the South East.
We’ve developed a scheme which meets all of the internationally recognised safety standards [and] we’ve developed a scheme that is affordable , very affordable compared to some of the alternatives.” “From my perspective, this will be the first time that one of the major London airports for many decades has been in a place to be in a position to release peak hourly slots across the day. I think it’s a very, very significant thing to happen for London, the South Eas.
