Chancellor set to back Gatwick expansion during growth speech
The West Sussex airport wants to bring a second runway into use
Last updated 29th Jan 2025
Expanding Gatwick Airport is expected to be among the Government's plans for growth when they are revealed in a speech by the Chancellor later (January 29th).
Rachel Reeves is expected to use her address to describe Britain as a country of "huge potential" but also to say that "for too long, that potential has been held back".
"For too long, we have accepted low expectations, accepted stagnation and accepted the risk of decline. We can do so much better," she will say.
"Low growth is not our destiny. But growth will not come without a fight. Without a Government that is on the side of working people. Willing to take the right decisions now to change our country's course for the better."
The West Sussex hub, Britain's second-largest airport, is currently looking to bring its current emergency taxiway into use as a third runway.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has a deadline of February 27th to make a decision on whether to allow Gatwick to bring its existing emergency northern runway into routine use.
The speech is also expected to confirm the Government's backing for the expansion of Heathrow Airport.
Opponents of airport expansion claim boosting flights would be damaging for the environment.
A spokesperson from the anti-expansion Campaign Against Gatwick Noise Emissions (CAGNE) said:
“It might seem like Christmas for Gatwick Airport management, shareholders and local taxi drivers, but not for residents of Sussex, Surrey and Kent who would bear the full burden of an airport as large as Heathrow is today.
"There is simply no sustainable infrastructure, housing, or workforce close enough to this airport to support such massive growth, as the Airport Commission found in 2014.
“The government can instantly reduce carbon by not allowing a new runway at Gatwick Airport which would add 1-1½ m tonnes of extra carbon a year with an extra 100,000 flights annually, in addition to the emissions from the main runway."
Alethea Warrington, head of aviation at climate charity Possible, said:
"Approving airport expansions would be a catastrophic misstep for a Government which claims to be a climate leader.
"This huge increase in emissions won't help our economy, and would just encourage the small group of frequent flyers who take most of the flights, further worsening the UK's huge tourism deficit."
Paul McGuinness, who chairs anti-Heathrow expansion group the No 3rd Runway Coalition, said Gatwick and Luton's expansion projects are "oven ready" whereas an application by Heathrow would take "years to process".
He added:
"Any signals from Government that Heathrow's expansion will not be impeded are meaningless, when other expansions in the South East will have already rendered Heathrow expansion uneconomic.
"There will be no yield from investing in it and no carbon budget left for it."
A Government spokesman said:
"We are determined to get our economy moving and secure the long-term future of the UK's aviation sector.
"All expansion proposals must demonstrate they contribute to economic growth, which is central to our Plan for Change, while remaining in line with existing environmental obligations."