Gatwick Airport is urging the government to choose growth rather than inertia at Heathrow.
The government this morning announced a six-month delay to a decision on airport expansion.
And although the commission led by Sir Howard Davies favoured Heathrow, the delay is only increasing claims that Gatwick is the only viable or legal option for expansion.
Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate: “This is a defining moment in the expansion debate. There is now a clear choice facing Britain: growth with Gatwick or inertia at Heathrow with an illegal scheme that has failed time and time again.
“We have always maintained that this decision is about balancing the economy and the environment. Expansion at Gatwick would give the country the economic benefit it needs at a dramatically lower environmental cost.
“We are glad that the government recognises that more work on environmental impact needs to be done. Air quality, for example, is a public health priority and obviously the legal safeguards around it cannot be wished away.
“Even Heathrow’s most vocal supporters must now realise a third runway at Heathrow will never take off as the environmental hurdles are just too high. If they want Britain to have the benefits of expansion and competition they should now look to Gatwick.
“Expansion has been in a holding pattern for decades. Momentum is now behind Gatwick as it becomes ever clearer that it is the obvious solution. We will continue to work closely with Government to take forward our plan which is legal, affordable, and can actually deliver for Britain.”
GATWICK v HEATHROW…
Gatwick’s second runway will deliver the UK the same number of passengers, the same number of long haul routes, better UK and regional connections, and the economic boost the UK needs, all at a dramatically lower environmental impact, at less than half the cost of Heathrow, and with no public subsidy.
The area around Heathrow already breaches crucial EU air quality legal limits and a third runway – with the millions of extra car and lorry journeys expansion would bring – can only make things worse. In comparison Gatwick has never exceeded legal air quality limits and has guaranteed it never will.
Of the almost 700,000 people that will be affected by Heathrow noise, more than 320,000 people would be ‘newly affected’. At Gatwick, on the same basis, the figure is 18,000 ‘newly affected’ of a total of 36,000.