Gatwick Airport chose the Mail on Sunday * (3rd January) to release details that majority owners, French infrastructure company (VINCI**), had agreed to invest in progressing the plans to rebuild the emergency runway into a second runway. This would add nearly 34,000 flights a year (on top of 285,000 aircraft movements in previous years) plus more carbon emissions, N0X, vapours and small particles from the airfield.
Since March 2019, Gatwick has seen a downturn of circa 80% on air traffic during the day and 90% at night. They are hoping you are asleep to these plans due to reduced aircraft noise.
The Gatwick Master Plan (2018) detailed a far greater increase in number of flights***, with an extra approx. 55,000 a year, so residents should not be duped into thinking that what is proposed now is a relatively small increase; once it is rebuilt into a second runway, it will be viable to increase aircraft movement as originally proposed by Gatwick.
Take Action – Click here for a standard letter that we would ask you to send to Members of Parliament, local political parties, and local councils including your Parish Council. Please adapt to your personal style and add your address details. Only by keeping the mailbags and inboxes of elected officials full with opposition to this foreign-owned airport’s plans can we stop this environmental disaster for all.
For Gatwick, to call a second runway-by-stealth ‘runway-lite’ is not only disingenuous but callous towards communities, and disrespectful to those who suffer from Gatwick’s operations. It clearly shows that money for overseas shareholders speaks louder than community voices.
As you know, during 2020 CAGNE conducted two surveys, one around Gatwick and the other nationally to an open audience of residents; the results were clear, that Gatwick expansion is strongly opposed with nearly 80% in both surveys stating ‘NO’ to these expansion plans.
Join the CAGNE efforts today, ‘Stop Gatwick Expansion’ by opposing the Development Consent Order that Gatwick requires to progress the runway rebuild. Make a donation to our legal fund here
For so long, the aviation industry as a whole has looked to reduce employment opportunities at Gatwick by automation, so any suggestion of job creation is laughable. We need to be looking to more green industries for future sustainable employment in our areas for future generations, and a less-volatile economy than this airport can offer.
* https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-9106915/Investors-extra-runway-Gatwick.html
** In 2019, a new long-term partnership was formed with VINCI Airports who purchased a 50.01% stake in the airport. Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which manages the remaining 49.99% interest in Gatwick is another overseas company.
*** Master Plan proposed approx. 55,000 additional flights from the emergency runway, reaching 340,000 a year in total by 2033. The planned growth from the main runway plus the emergency runway operations together total 390,000 flights a year, nearly a 40% increase, with 74m passengers on inadequate infrastructure.