Gatwick Airport has announced its intention to invest £1.15billion over the next five years, having brought several major projects forward.
Plans include a new £10million hangar in partnership with Boeing, extending Pier 6 to almost double its size at a cost of £150million, plus a new domestic arrivals facility in the South Terminal. Around £100m will be spent increasing car parking capacity.
In line with a recent Mott MacDonald recommendation, the £66million resurfacing of the main runway has been brought forward a year.
Spending will be at around £240million in 2017/18 alone and the capital investment programme will take Gatwick’s total spending to £2.7billion between coming under its current ownership in 2009 to 2022.
Gatwick construction director Raymond Melee said: “Since coming into independent ownership Gatwick has delivered record growth in passenger numbers and long-haul services while also taking passenger satisfaction levels to an all-time high.
“As we plan to grow towards 50million passengers per annum, we will focus on energy and service. These projects will be delivered in a way that will help us realise our ambition to become the UK’s most sustainable airport.”
Gatwick, a member of the Develop Croydon Forum, says it still wants to build a second runway despite Heathrow getting the nod from the government last year.
“Regarding future runway expansion, our financable and deliverable scheme for a second runway remains on the table,” added Mr Melee.
“We will deliver a new runway for Britain in addition to or instead of Heathrow, should the government give us support now or in the future.”