Gatwick airport has been given the go-ahead to open a second runway – set to cost an impressive £2.2billion.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander gave the nod of approval to the plans for the privately financed project.
The new runway could potentially mean travellers can fly to a whole host of new destinations.
The project will see the West Sussex airport will move its emergency runway 13 yards north, so it can be used for departures of narrow-bodied planes such as Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s.
Such changes will enable it to be used for about 100,000 more flights a year.
Gatwick has more flights using its single runway than any other airport – with annual traffic of more than 40 million passengers per year. In 2024 Gatwick handled around 265,000 flights in total.
The controversial project will see the Sussex airport increase its capacity greatly.
The aviation hub has a second standby runway already – and by moving it further north and making improvements across the airfield, Gatwick can press it into service for departing holiday flights.
Gatwick airport has been given the go-ahead to open a second runway – set to cost an impressive £2.2billion
The additional runway would be used only for departures for narrow-bodied aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family – as used by British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air.
You can currently fly to more than 225 destinations direct from London Gatwick.
Airbus A320 planes can fly to nearby European destinations as well as long-haul transatlantic routes, and Boeing 737 planes have flexibility to fly around the world.
This means even more holiday destinations could be opened up.
For example, current direct flights from London to Amman, Jordan are available from Heathrow but not Gatwick.
Other cities Gatwick doesn’t currently directly fly to are Graz in Austria, Sofia in Bulgaria and Brno-Turany in Czechia.
Similarly, Perugia in Italy is a gorgeous holiday destinations that you can’t fly to directly from Gatwick right now – only from Stansted. The new runway could see this change.
Places in Armenia are also hard to reach right now by direct flight – such as Yerevan, its capital, which is known for its history and vibrant culture. Gatwick’s plans could add to the list of destinations you can reach directly from the hub.
Gatwick has more flights using its single runway than any other airport with annual traffic of more than 40 million passengers per year
Capacity at the airport will rise from the current average of 767 arrivals and departures each day to as many as 1,066 – an increase of 40 per cent, according to the Independent.
Currently, people travelling to or from London and southeast England do not get the choice they deserve of airlines and destinations, and pay higher fares due to the constraints on the number of flights.
For example, Europe’s biggest budget airline, Ryanair, has only a tiny operation at Gatwick because of the lack of attractive slots; it could expand rapidly with more capacity.
The expectation is that the new hub would be ready by 2030, but Ms Alexander says it could be before the next election – which means by the summer of 2029.
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The holiday destinations Gatwick Airport’s new runway could unveil
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