Second runway backed by government | Global News Avenue

The second runway at Gatwick Airport has been supported by the government and provides measures to reduce noise.

Transport Minister Heidi Alexander said she was “willing to approve” the expansion. Some members of Congress, local authorities and residents are Strongly object to.

The airport wants to move its northern runway, which is currently only used for taxiing or backups and brings it into operation by the end of the decade.

The support of the Minister of Transport does not guarantee that the expansion will continue as it still requires planning permission.

The BBC understands that if licensed, the work will begin almost immediately. The £2.2 billion expansion will be funded through private investment.

“I am sending out a cautious decision that provides some time to seek advice from all parties on these provisions before the final decision,” Alexander said in a written ministerial statement on Tuesday.

Gatwick must respond by April 24 to include measures such as noise reduction measures and a percentage of passengers heading to the airport via public transportation and make an overall plan before making a final decision in October.

Gatwick Airport CEO Stewart Wingate said the government “outlined the pathways to get full approval later this year” after the latest announcement and that the airport will “fully participate” in the process.

The Minister of Transport’s support for expansion is due to the government’s search for ways to promote economic growth to enhance living standards and Last month, Prime Minister Rachel Reeves was at Heathrow.

Gatwick, West Sussex, is Europe’s busiest single-runway airport, and last year it was used by more than 40 million passengers.

Alexander told industry leaders that aviation is good for economic growth on Tuesday, she said she is not some kind of Flying forged eco-warriors”.

The growth arguments of expanding Heathrow and Gatwick, two of the largest airports in the UK, differ from previous catering to provide more freight transport related to international merchandise trade.

Gatwick’s additional runway will increase the added capability among vacationers and business travelers, especially at short-distance destinations, rather than longer flights at Heathrow.

Gatwick’s manager said there were 55 takeoffs and landings in a busy hour and the airport was “full”.

The airport believes that being able to use two runways could add 50,000 runways per year in the late 2030s.

It said about 30,000 of these flights are planned to depart from the North Runway, which is for departure only, not landing.

However, there is a strong opposition to any expansion, especially those from climate movements.

Douglas Parr, director of policy at Greenpeace UK, said the extension would not drive economic growth. “The only thing it wants to improve is air pollution, noise and climate emissions,” he added.

Alex Chapman, a senior economist at the Central Think Tank New Economic Foundation, also believes the move will not create new jobs, but will only transfer them from other parts of the country.

“People have been able to take cheap flights on holidays or business trips,” he added.

Union Unite’s support Gatwick has a second runway, but warns that it needs to be “guaranteed to have good pay, union jobs and proper worker facilities”.

Bronwen Jones, Gatwick development director, said the second runway would be “everyone’s victory.”

This will create more flight slots on both runways, she said.

“This allows us to offer new routes on existing routes, new airlines, more frequencies, giving passengers more choice.”

Sally Pavey, the president of the Gatwick noise emissions community, is concerned about “uncontrollable noise, consequences on the road, declining air quality…and climate change.”

“We can’t always ignore climate change, and as we said, it’s wrong to allow new ‘buckets and shovels’ runways to be at the expense of residents and the economy,” she said.

She added that if the expansion continues, the organization will take legal action through judicial review.

Gatwick said it has promised to lower noise levels to 2019 levels – one of the worst years of noise, Cagne said.

On Wednesday, the UK Climate Change Commission (UKCCC), an independent adviser to the government, recommended that in order to achieve the country’s climate goals, the amount of planetary warm gas released by the country’s aviation sector needs to fall by 17% compared to 2003.

It says that pollution from flight can be reduced by switching the aircraft to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and capturing released planetary warm gas.

But experts believe that getting the ingredients needed to make SAF, such as corn cereals or food waste, can be a challenge.

The best way to reduce the impact of the industry on climate change is to significantly slow down flight demand, UKCCC said.

At current levels, demand is expected to grow by 53% by 2040, while UKCCC says it should be close to 16%.