Gatwick Airport submitted plans for a second runway to the Airports Commission on Tuesday, less than a week after Heathrow proposed a third runway. Stansted put forward three options on Friday, but has decided not to favour any one suggestion.

Expansion at Gatwick will cost between £5Bn and £9Bn and the new runway would open in 2025. Gatwick’s new runway would be built to the south of its existing runway towards Crawley. An earlier option to build a new runway to the North West of the airport was rejected. The Sussex airport favours a ‘constellation’ of three airports around London serving future aviation demand.

Heathrow’s third runway would cost between £14Bn and £18Bn but less, it claims, than building a new hub airport. If approved Heathrow’s new runway would open between 2025 and 2029 and be built at one of three possible sites. Siting the new runway to the North West or the South West of the existing airport would require placing the M25 in a tunnel. An option to position the runway to the north would mean it runs parallel to the M4 coming out of London.

Stansted Airport has put forward three options: a four runway hub airport at a cost of £10Bn, an additional runway to the North West (£2.5Bn) or the east (£4Bn) of the existing runway, and making more use of its existing facilities. Stansted has not said when a new hub or additional runway would be built.

(Photo: London Gatwick Airport)

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