UK government gives green light for second runway at London Gatwick Airport

London-Gatwick Airport has seen its planning application for a second runway approved by the UK Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander. The announcement was made by the UK government on September 21, 2025.  The move comes as the UK government continues its policy of approving investment in new infrastructure to boost the UK economy in the future.

The £2.2bn ($2.97) privately-financed project will see the relocation of the airport’s current northern runway 12 metres (36.6ft) to the north to bring it into regular use. The runway is currently only used as a parallel taxiway during the day or as a standby runway at night when the main runway is closed for maintenance works.

However, the distance between the two runways is not currently sufficient to allow both to be used simultaneously. As part of the project, other developments such as new taxiways and the expansion of the terminals will be included as part of the scheme.

Gatwick currently handles about 280,000 flights a year. It says the plan would enable that number to rise to around 389,000 by the late 2030s. It is currently Europe’s busiest single-runway airport, handling around 40 million passengers annually.

UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the plans would create “thousands of jobs and billions in investment”, but the project has long faced opposition, while the UK Green Party described it as a “disaster”.

London Gatwick AirportA government source has described the plans as a “no-brainer for growth,” adding that “it is possible that planes could be taking off from a new full runway at Gatwick before the next general election”, which would mean by 2029.

The plans approved by the Transport Secretary would include adding 40,000 more flights per year before the second runway opens and 70,00 more once it is operational. This equates to around 190 more movements daily at the airport. With the increase in aircraft movements, London-Gatwick expects the airport’s capacity to double to around 80 million passengers per year.

According to the airport, the new runway would be shorter than the existing main runway 28/06. Given its reduced length, the new runway would be only used for short-haul and regional flights. This, in turn, would free up more slots on the main runway for additional long-haul flights.

London Gatwick AirportThe decision to approve the expansion plan comes amid vocal protests from the local community that surrounds the airport, as well as the environmental lobby that says the new runway will cause noise and pollution from the airport to significantly increase..

However, in April 2025, Gatwick Airport agreed to stricter noise controls, an enhanced insulation scheme for nearby residents, and to have 54% of air passengers using public transport before the new northern runway opens.

To achieve this target, the airport said, third parties, including the Department for Transport, would need to “support delivery of the necessary conditions and improvements required to meet this target.”

One part of this process, commented the airport, was for the UK Government to oversee the reinstatement of a full Gatwick Express direct rail service into Central London. The service ran four times per hour until 2022, when the service was reduced to just two trains per hour.

The plans for the new runway stipulate that local residents affected by any increase in noise can ask the airport to cover the costs for triple-glazed windows at their property.

“This government has taken unprecedented steps to get this done, navigating a needlessly complex planning system, which our reforms will simplify in the future,” a UK Government source told the BBC. “Any airport expansion must be delivered in line with our legally binding climate change commitments and meet strict environmental requirements.”

London Gatwick AirportThe expansion at London-Gatwick Airport comes amid a string of transport infrastructure projects being either approved or considered by the UK government. In April 2025, it granted planning permission for London-Luton Airport, located north of the capital, to expand to handle 32 million passengers by 2043 – around double its current throughput.

Meanwhile, London-Stansted Airport has lodged a planning application to expand to handle 51 million passengers over the next 20 years.

London’s largest airport, Heathrow, is seeking approval for a new northern runway. However, given the complexity, scale, and cost of this proposal, although the UK government has backed the project, there remain major regulatory and planning hurdles to overcome.

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