The decision over the expansion of the second runway at Gatwick Airport has been delayed (Image: GETTY)
A decision on whether to bring a second runway at into regular use has been delayed by the Government in a blow for the £22billion plan.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the Government was “minded to approve” the plan.
However, the deadline for a decision is now being moved to the end of October as key issues persist.
The main stumbling blocks facing the proposals are linked to the environment, specifically noise prevention and public transport provision, according to , with the Planning Inspectorate making recommendations in these areas.
Despite a second runway already existing at the airport, it cannot be used in conjunction with the main one due to its close proximity. It is currently used as a taxiway, or as a stand-in runway if the first one is inoperable.
Gatwick has proposed moving it 12 metres further away to solve the problem, adding that the second runway would allow for 100,000 more flights annually and would create 14,000 jobs.
However, economists warn against this claim, saying it won’t create new jobs, but it instead “displaces jobs from the wider UK regions”.
Dr Alex Chapman, senior economist at The New Economics Foundation, said: “Growing Gatwick will not magic up the economic growth the government so desperately wants. Business air travel has collapsed while expansion will see three times as many tourists leave the country as come in.
“Voters living outside London and the south east will not thank the government for this decision. Expanding airports like Gatwick doesn’t create new jobs – it displaces jobs from the wider UK regions, and particularly the domestic tourism industry which is a key source of spending outside London and the south east.”
Mr Chapman explains how the country already has a high number of international airports, with Brits able to “catch cheap flights”. “If this government is so desperate for growth, it should focus on investing properly in the vital public services upon which the health of our economy really depends,” he adds.
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