Gatwick Airport is considering building a second runway to transform it into an international hub to rival Heathrow.
Despite its long-standing agreement not to construct another runway until 2019, the airport’s chief executive Stewart Wingate said it is looking at options to increase passenger numbers.
He reportedly told news agency Reuters that a second runway at Gatwick would have a lower environmental impact than a third runway at Heathrow and it would add significantly more capacity.
Global Infrastructure Partners, which bought Gatwick from BAA, owners of Heathrow, will evaluate the environmental, surface access and economic impacts of various runway options, according to Reuters.
Its findings will be submitted to the Airports Commission but no work on a new runway will begin before 2019. In a statement issued today, the airport said it remained committed to the 1979 legal agreement with West Sussex Country Council that prohibits it from building a second runway for the next seven years.
Gatwick currently handles 34m passengers a year but the airport is expecting numbers to rise 30% over the next 20 years. It saw a 2.4% increase last month when it handled an additional 80,000 passengers, however it still has 25% spare capacity.
Although traditionally seen as an airport for holiday flights, Gatwick has been increasing its scheduled traffic. Numbers last month were up by more than 7% on flights to Europe, and the airport has recently attracted new Asian carriers flying to Beijing, Seoul and Vietnam.
A commission chaired by former Financial Services Authority head Howard Davies to analyse ways to expand airport capacity in southeast England will report in the summer of 2015 after releasing an interim report next year. Other options mooted so far include a third runway at Heathrow or a totally new airport in the Thames Estuary.
