Gatwick boss holds out possibility of second runway
01.08.11
Stewart Wingate, the managing director of Gatwick Airport, is demanding the Government overhaul its policy on airport capacity in the South East, saying that without this it risks the UK losing business overseas, the Telegraph reports. He also holds out the possibility of a second runway at Gatwick at some point in the future.
Mr Wingate told the newspaper that he is angry the Coalition ruled out a second runway at Gatwick and overturned plans for Heathrow's third runway without outlining a viable plan B. Like many business leaders, he says the Government should wake up to Britain's lack of air space. He said: ‘The Government will have to put serious thought into putting capacity into the South East. Earlier this year the Government announced it would review the future of aviation policy. It will really kick off in anger next year once the [review] is done.’
However, the economic imperative for extra capacity must be balanced with the ‘environmental impact’, he added. Although Gatwick has ‘headroom’ to meet increased demand, plans to grow passenger numbers from 32m to 40m by 2020, and to 45m after that, mean a second runway at Gatwick is, perhaps, inevitable – though a legal agreement with West Sussex County Council prohibits one before 2019.
Mr Wingate told the newspaper: ‘We safeguard for the eventuality of a second runway. There is an area of land where we have a plot on a graph that says let's safeguard that. We are not actively planning to build a second runway, but if in 5, 10 or 30 years' time that becomes necessary, the idea is we could then use it.’
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