A £2.2bn proposal unveiled today by airports operator BAA to build a second runway at Stansted airport has drawn savage criticism from low-cost airline Ryanair, which dubbed the project a 'Taj Mahal' and threatened legal action.
The Ryanair comments came despite a significant downward revision to the expected cost from an originally budgeted £4bn. The project would see the airport doubling in size to accommodate as many passengers as Heathrow.
The new runway and terminal, scheduled to open in 2015, are now expected to cost £1.4bn, with the total cost of the project put at £2.2bn.
But Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, called on the Civil Aviation Authority - the regulator of the BAA airport monopoly - to reject BAA's proposal.
He said: "This £2.2bn Taj Mahal is opposed by Stansted's airlines, its passengers and the local community. This will lead to a doubling of the already high passenger charges at Stansted and will be a double whammy for British passengers and visitors on top of greedy Gordon Brown's £10 airport tax, which starts on Thursday."
He said alternative plans submitted by the airlines would cost less than £1bn and would do away with an increase in passenger charges.
"Ryanair will oppose these [BAA] plans during the planning process and if necessary in the courts. We have no intention of allowing this greedy monopoly to double passenger charges and hike up the cost of air travel at Stansted," Mr O'Leary said. He reiterated calls for the BAA monopoly to be broken up.
Under BAA's plans, capacity at Stansted airport will more than double to 68 million passengers a year by 2030, the same number handled by Heathrow airport last year.
BAA now reckons that it will need 22% less land than previously estimated, although the scheme is still expected to meet with fierce opposition from local residents and environmental groups.
In 2003, the government estimated the cost of the development to be £4bn, with a land take of 700 hectares. BAA's new proposal has cut the land take to 486 hectares.
But Mr O'Leary said the airlines' plan would require just 200 hectares of Essex countryside.
Stephen Nelson, BAA's chief executive, said: "We are confident of delivering a development that's fit for purpose - it will provide the increased runway capacity that the UK economy needs, good facilities for passengers and value for money for airlines. We have also worked hard to reduce the impact on the local environment."
BAA, which was taken over last summer by a consortium led by Spanish infrastructure and construction group Ferrovial, hopes that a planning inquiry will start in the spring or summer of 2008.
Last month the government reiterated its support for the 2003 aviation white paper, which called for the building of two new runways in the south-east of England, including a second runway at Stansted. A third short runway is to be built at Heathrow, provided environmental hurdles can be overcome.
