Gatwick Airport will be able to operate around 100,000 more flights a year after getting the go ahead to press on with plans to open a second runway.
The £2.2 billion expansion, approved by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander last September, will involve moving Gatwick’s emergency runway 12 metres to the north to make it fully operational.
Two separate groups of campaigners had attempted to have the decision overturned by taking legal action against the Department for Transport, arguing that it had not properly assessed the climate impact.
However, today (4 August) Lord Justice Holgate and Lord Justice Dove dismissed the appeal bids. In a 29-page ruling, they said: “We conclude that each of the grounds of appeal raised by each appellant is unarguable.
“Neither appeal has a real prospect of success. We also consider that there are no other compelling reasons for either appeal to be heard.”
Gatwick is the UK’s second busiest airport after London Heathrow and one of the busiest single-runway airports in the world. Opening a second runway – to be used by narrow-bodied aircraft such as A320s and Boeing 737s – will allow it to handle around 13 million more passengers a year.
