Gatwick’s vision for growth is set out in its master plan

• Gatwick expects to handle 40 million passengers by the early 2020s
• Growth will deliver more local jobs and contribute £2.1 billion a year to the economies of London and the South East
• By 2030 the airport will be full and handling 11 million more passengers a year than today

Gatwick has today published its finalised master plan, which outlines its development plans to 2020 and looks onwards to 2030 when it expects to reach full capacity with around 45 million passengers a year choosing to fly from the airport.

The publication takes place against the backdrop of an on-going debate around what a future airports policy could look like. A new draft aviation policy is currently out for consultation and the 'call for evidence' on maintaining the UK's international air connectivity is expected to be published in the near future.

Commenting on the finalised master plan, Gatwick Airport's Chief Executive, Stewart Wingate said: "Gatwick plays an important role in supporting growth in the local and wider UK economy. We are responsible for providing jobs to 21,000 people today and enabling the tourism industry to flourish and businesses to prosper. Our finalised master plan sets out how we will achieve sustainable growth on our single runway in order that we can continue to support economic recovery and growth and open up further routes to emerging economies.

"We remain committed to honouring the 2019 agreement which prohibits the building of any second runway before that time. At the same time, and like any other business, our plans need to cater for all eventualities. We need to anticipate that, in the long term, a second runway at Gatwick may be needed. This means we will continue to work in partnership with our local authorities to safeguard land for future expansion because we believe it to be sensible business practice and it supports current Government policy."

Key master plan points:

• Today Gatwick handles around 34 million passengers a year, contributes around £2 billion to the economy and provides on-airport jobs for 21,000 people and a further 20,000 jobs indirectly
• In the two and a half years under new ownership, Gatwick has delivered large parts of its £1.2 billion investment programme, which has helped to transform the airport for airlines and passengers
• Gatwick has proposals to invest a further £1 billion in the airport from 2014
• Gatwick has no current plans for a second runway and is focused on making the best use of its single runway and two terminals
• Gatwick can grow to handle 40 million passengers a year by 2021/22 and create an extra 1,200 on-airport jobs and contribute around £2.1 billion to the regional economy each year
• Gatwick could, by 2030, handle around 45 million passengers a year at which point the airport would be full
• In moving towards this level of growth, Gatwick will make every effort to maintain and, where possible, improve the sustainability and environmental performance of the airport operations. To that end Gatwick will work with key stakeholders to ensure:
  
  • the airport remains affordable to airlines and their passengers
  • service levels remain high
  • the number of people affected by aircraft noise, as assessed by the CAA, is kept as low as possible and Gatwick's performance in this area remains one of the best in Europe
  • operations are resilient to the effects of disruption, and that
  • adequate airspace and surface access infrastructure is in place

The final master plan has been informed by a three month public consultation on a draft document published in October 2011. The main issues raised through the consultation exercise related to the impacts of growth on the road and rail network, and on aircraft noise for those living near Gatwick or under its flight path.

Gatwick recognises that making further improvements to its surface access is essential to achieving sustainable growth and one of its stated targets is to encourage 40% of non-transfer passengers to use public transport by the time it is handling 40 million passengers a year. Gatwick also makes commitments to help fund improvements for rail, coach and local bus services.

Gatwick also acknowledges that communities can be affected by aircraft noise and the master plan details the range of noise management and mitigation measures in place. A noise insulation scheme already exists but with the development plans outlined in the master plan the airport is looking to deliver a better scheme for the local communities. A new scheme will be rolled out in 2013 following a public consultation.

The master plans is available to read and can be downloaded from the Gatwick Airport website gatwickairport.com/masterplan