Gatwick Airport position statement
Gatwick Airport Limited submitted a Development Consent Order (DCO) application for their Northern Runway Project to the Planning Inspectorate on 6 July 2023.
The application sought approval for “alterations to the existing northern runway at London Gatwick Airport, which, along with lifting the current restrictions on its use, would enable dual runway operations. Together with the alterations to the northern runway, the Project would include the development of a range of infrastructure and facilities to allow increased airport passenger numbers and aircraft operations.”
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities appointed a panel of inspectors (called the Examining Authority) to lead a 6 month Examination which took place between 27 February and 27 August 2024.
Following the close of the Examination, the Examining Authority has 3 months to produce a recommendation report to the Secretary of State for Transport on whether development consent should be granted. The Examining Authority’s report was sent to the Secretary of State for Transport on 27 November 2024. This recommended the applicant’s DCO was refused but suggested a revised DCO that would be deemed acceptable were changes to be made, such as requiring a sustainable transport mode share of 54% prior to the Northern Runway being operational.
As a result, between December 2024 and January 2025, the Secretary of State issued two further consultations on the proposals. In February 2025, the Secretary of State issued a letter stating that she was minded to approve the application, subject to further information from the applicant. This further information was submitted in April and all Interested parties were given the opportunity to comment further.
The deadline for the Secretary of State’s final decision was extended to 27 October 2025, but a decision was announced to grant consent on 22 September 2025.
A Judicial Review was heard at the High Court in January 2026 after being lodged by the campaign group Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions (CAGNE) and Peter Barclay of Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign (GACC). The Department for Transport and Gatwick Airport Limited both opposed the challenge. A judgement on the case is expected later in 2026.
If the consent remains in place, a phased period of construction will begin, with the main airfield construction works lasting a total of 5 years. The northern runway is expected to be fully operational in the early 2030s.
Full details of the application along with further information on the DCO process can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.
Our position
Our position on the project remains in line with our existing Policy on Gatwick Airport, which was adopted by Cabinet in December 2014. This policy is reiterated in our Local Transport Plan 5: Striking the Balance.
The policy explicitly states that we oppose a second runway at Gatwick. Whilst at the time, this was in response to the Airports Commission and the proposals for a newly constructed and independently operated second runway, we consider these latest proposals to routinely use the northern runway as a way for Gatwick to become a two-runway airport by another means.
Therefore, we continue to strongly oppose the proposals to bring the existing northern runway into routine use. Our concerns focus mainly on the:
- intensification of the main runway
- noise of overflying aircraft
- carbon emissions
- lack of efficient rail and public transport connections to Kent.
Read our response
Read our response to Gatwick Airport's northern runway statutory consultation (PDF, 163.8 KB).
All our responses to the DCO process can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.