A second runway at London”s Stansted Airport could become closer with the unveiling by BAA of a development plan that could take its capacity up to 68m passengers by 2030. In its formal press statement there is no talk about cargo, and most significantly, and once again, virtually no mention of any improvements to the already inadequate railway link to central London, although once again this is promised at a later date. If the plan goes ahead the Essex airport will overtake Gatwick as London”s second busiest gateway.
Under the scheme the new runway would be operative by 2015 and be parallel and south of the existing runway. The cost of this first expansion is put at ”1.4bn. The two runways would be operated in ”segregated mode” meaning one runway for landings and the other for take-offs. According to BAA communities will normally only be directly over-flown to the north-east of the new runway and to the south-west of the existing runway.
Terry Morgan, BAA Stansted”s managing director, said: ”Today”s announcement puts further momentum behind the Stansted Generation 2 project. We”ve welcomed nearly 24m passengers in the last year as record numbers of leisure and business travellers fly to more destinations, more often than ever before. It”s a success story that underpins our plans for growth at the airport.” Mr Morgan, in his second spell as the Stansted managing director is shortly to join the BAA Executive Committee as group divisional director with overall responsibility for Stansted and Gatwick airports and the Stansted expansion scheme.
Last November the local council rejected an application to increase passenger numbers through the existing terminal to 35m per year. BAA is appealing and a public enquiry is expected to start later in the year.