UK government tentatively backs expansion of Gatwick Airport, country's second-busiest

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government gave its provisional backing Thursday to the creation of a second runway at Gatwick Airport outside London if certain improvements were met, including on noise reduction — a move that has been met with incredulity from environmental campaigners.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said in a written statement that she was "minded to approve” the expansion, which would involve moderately moving Gatwick's northern standby runway used for planes to taxi or as a backup.

The original Gatwick project, which was rejected but then revised by planning inspectors, means that the final approval may be delayed by nine months.

Under the new plan, Gatwick will have to ensure at least 50% of passengers traveling to and from the airport do so by public transport and take steps to mitigate noise.

Gatwick, which is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of London and serves more than 40 million passengers a year, is the country's busiest single-runway airport, and second-busiest overall behind London's Heathrow Airport.

Under the plan, Gatwick will have to move the current emergency runway 12 meters (39 feet) north away from the main runway in order to meet international safety standards. That would allow it to be used for departures of narrow-bodied planes such as Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s.

The project, which will be funded privately, is expected to cost 2.2 billion pounds ($2.8 billion), could be completed by the end of the decade, if construction begins later this year.

The expansion would allow it to cater for another 100,000 flights a year, taking capacity up to more than 380,000. It's projected to create 14,000 new jobs and generate 1 billion pounds ($1.26 billion) in annual economic benefits to the country.

Gatwick, which is majority-owned by France-based VINCI Airports, has until April 24 to formally respond to the new proposals, while Alexander is expected to make a final decision shortly after that date, although a deadline has been extended to Oct. 27.

Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate welcomed Thursday's announcement, saying that the airport will “engage fully” in the extended process for a final decision.

“By increasing resilience and capacity, we can support the U.K.’s position as a leader in global connectivity and deliver substantial trade and economic growth in (southeast England) and more broadly,” he said.

Climate change activists, however, have railed against the new Labour government's provisional thumbs-up, which came just a few weeks after it gave its full backing to the construction of a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport, the country's busiest, as part of its drive to bolster the U.K.'s anemic economic growth over recent years. The government has made airport expansion a central plank of its growth plan.

“Such a decision would be one that smacks of desperation, completely ignoring the solid evidence that increasing air travel won’t drive economic growth,” said Greenpeace U.K.’s policy director, Doug Parr. “The only thing it’s set to boost is air pollution, noise and climate emissions.”