Sir Sadiq Khan has raised fresh objections to plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport after the Government approved plans for a second runway at Gatwick.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the £2.2 billion runway at Gatwick Airport will create thousands of jobs, attract billions in investment, and deliver up to 100,000 additional flights a year.
The Mayor of London has suggested that the additional runway at Gatwick Airport would make plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport - the largest airport in the UK handling around 83 million passengers annually - unnecessary.
Khan argues that Gatwick’s expansion further undermines the case for expanding Heathrow—currently the UK's busiest airport, handling around 83 million passengers annually.
While he “recognises the economic and jobs benefits that aviation brings to London and the country as a whole”, Khan said he was “particularly worried about the outsize impacts of noise and air pollution from Heathrow, and Gatwick’s expansion further reduces the case for a third runway at Heathrow”.
A spokesperson for the Mayor told the Standard: “Heathrow’s expansion would require extensive infrastructure changes to the surrounding motorways, the demolition of villages and massive investment in public transport upgrades for which we have yet to see a plan.”
Ministers fear that Khan, who has strongly objected to the Heathrow expansion, is planning to launch a legal challenge against the plans, according to The Telegraph.
He has reportedly won support from Labour backbenchers who share his concerns about the Heathrow expansion plans.
Speaking earlier this year, Sadiq Khan told the Standard he was concerned about the impact an expansion would have on the UK’s carbon emissions and said it would worsen noise disturbance for Londoners.
“This is the biggest conurbation in Europe,” said Sir Sadiq. “The numbers of people affected by noise from just two runways is more than the numbers of people affected by Paris Charles de Gaulle, by Munich, by Madrid, by Amsterdam airports - put together.”
On Monday night, a Department for Transport spokesman said: “The Government is assessing initial proposals for the expansion of Heathrow airport – a significant step towards unlocking growth, creating jobs, and delivering vital national infrastructure to drive forward our Plan for Change.”
Gatwick Airport anticipates that its second runway will enable it to increase annual flight capacity from approximately 280,000 to around 389,000 by the late 2030s.
The airport also projects that annual passenger numbers could rise to as many as 80 million.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander backed the scheme as a “no-brainer” for economic growth, a Government source said, suggesting flights could take off from the new full runway before 2029.
