Allowing Gatwick Airport to expand will go against the UK’s aviation planning frameworks, says the Aviation Environment Federation
27th February, 2025
Today, Rt Hon Heidi Alexander MP, the UK’s Secretary of State for Transport, said that she is “minded to approve” expansion at Gatwick airport, with the proviso of “some additional time to seek views from all parties on the provisions, prior to a final decision”. This delay allows time for more work to address noise and surface transport problems with the airport’s application.
But it’s surprising that more work hasn’t been recommended on emissions and planning arguments. There are serious questions raised by this announcement, namely that it appears the Planning Inspectorate has recommended against the expansion plan. Specifically, it stated that the increase in emissions from the expansion would threaten the UK’s ability to meet its carbon budgets. At the Gatwick planning hearing last year, the airport said the project would increase its emissions by an extra half a million tonnes of CO₂ in 2050, even allowing for optimistic assumptions on cleaner planes and fuels.
The Planning Inspectorate’s report suggests that the Gatwick plan is incompatible with the government’s own guiding national airport strategy, the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS). The ANPS, published in 2018, endorsed a 3rd runway at Heathrow airport as the preferred option in the South East. It followed years of analysis into economic and passenger trends leading up to the ‘Airports Commission’ report. Just two weeks ago, the Aviation Minister Mike Kane MP invited Heathrow to confirm its plans for expansion, and said that the ANPS would be reviewed after the summer.
AEF have argued that it is premature to agree to allow Gatwick to expand before this is done, bringing in an additional 100,000 flights a year and a 50% increase in passenger capacity. The government must also determine Luton’s expansion plans by early April, potentially increasing its capacity by 13 million passengers a year. And in 2024 it also gave expansion for the go ahead at London City while Stansted airport’s expansion plans were approved in 2022.
The news comes just a day after the government’s independent climate advisors, the Climate Change Committee, said that increases in aviation demand must be managed through the costs of decarbonisation being paid for by the aviation industry.
“Outlining that this expansion could go ahead while at the same time encouraging Heathrow to expand goes against established government policy. In 2018, the government’s strategy direction document gave support for one extra runway in the South East – and now we potentially have all 5 London airports expanding. The Climate Change Committee’s recent 7th Carbon Budget casts doubts on the demand case for expanding any airports – they only expect a 2% growth in passenger demand over the next 10 years, and they make it clear that growth can be accommodated within the UK’s already existing airport capacity.”
Celeste Hicks, Policy Manager at AEF
Any final decision to allow Gatwick to expand will bring misery to local communities who will be hit by more noise and air pollution from the increase in flight numbers.
Notes
The Planning Inspectors Report can be read here.
Available for comment:
Celeste Hicks, Policy Manager AEF – celeste@aef.org.uk
Tim Johnson, Director AEF – tim@aef.org.uk