Airport News

Gatwick Airport CEO Stewart Wingate believes London needs three dual runway airports – instead of just one large hub.

He said passengers would be better served if his airport and Stansted were expanded – allowing them to compete with Heathrow.

He told the Financial Times: “Do we desire a monopoly type solution which would either be an estuarial airport or a third runway at Heathrow?

“Or do we actually for the first time in a generation really want to put in place a competitive airport sector? Which would lead you, in the first instance, to put a second runway into Gatwick and then thereafter to put a second runway into Stansted, and have a city – London – that is served by three dual-runway, competitive airports.”

The UK Government launched an independent inquiry into the UK’s airport capacity issues in November 2012.

Options include a new four runway hub and expansion at Heathrow.

The London Mayor, Boris Johnson, favours a new hub, although he has also said he would support expansion at Stansted.

Gatwick is not permitted to build a second runway until after 2019. Meanwhile, Heathrow bosses have said they will consider expanding to three or four runways.

Various schemes for a new hub airport have been put forward, including one in the Thames Estuary, and another off the east coast of Kent.