News
11th Feb 2010
No Second Runway
Here's a report this week from "Redhill & Reigate Life" which may be of interest to businesses...
Gatwick Airport's new owners have ruled out building a second runway for the foreseeable future.
The message this week from the airport's new chairman Sir David Rowlands was that new owners Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) have “not a shred of interest” in a second runway.
In a meeting with the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign (GACC), Sir David said that a new runway was not Government policy nor the policy of the airport.
And he added that even if the Government started to look more favourably at the prospect of a second runway, Gatwick would have to “think very hard about spending £100 million to £200 million on a planning application with an uncertain decision.”
Welcoming the news, GACC chairman Brendon Sewill said: “This firm statement will kill off some silly speculation, and will remove a lot of uncertainty and anxiety.”
Under a long-standing local planning agreement, there is an understanding that there will be no new runway at Gatwick before 2019.
But last December, Gatwick's ownership passed from BAA to US-based investment fund GIP, and fears were voiced the new owners would start looking at possible runway plans.
But at the meeting with Charlwood-based GACC, Sir David said: “The simple fact is that we at Gatwick have not a shred of interest in a second runway.”
