The British Airline Pilots’ Association says it is pleased at plans to expand Gatwick, but a local pressure group has accused the airport of introducing ‘a second runway by the back door’.
BALPA General Secretary, Brian Strutton, said: "BALPA has always been in favour of extra capacity across the UK, and with Heathrow and Gatwick already running pretty much at full capacity, something needs to be done soon.
"If it is approved by the regulator[s] and complies with safety rules, then by using its emergency runway Gatwick can provide much-needed capacity in the south east, which we would welcome.
"We also urge the Government to hurry up with a final decision on Heathrow expansion, which we believe will be even more vital in a post-Brexit UK to support our thriving aviation industry."
The draft proposal, which will be released on Thursday and will go out to public consultation, involves using the airport’s emergency runway for smaller aircraft departures, as part of future growth plans.
An airport spokesman told the BBC it was ‘exploring how to make best use of its existing runways, including the possibility of bringing its existing standby runway into routine use’ as well as using the existing runway ‘more intensely’, aided by the use of modern technology.
He added: "This would deliver an incremental increase in capacity that complements the expansion schemes of other airports across the South East."
However, campaign group Communities Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions told the BBC: "This is simply betrayal of communities of Sussex, Surrey and Kent who have already endured the increases in long haul movements this year by 24.1%.
"This is a second runway by the back door, how can communities ever trust Gatwick management again?"
Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign chairman Peter Barclay said communities, particularly those in the north of the airport, would be impacted by noise.
"We want to know what mitigation they propose to put in to counter the expected growth that this will produce," he said.
