The Government has today given the go ahead for an expansion of passenger numbers and flight movements at Stansted Airport, based on a single runway.

The cap on passenger numbers has been raised from 25 million passengers per annum to 35 million.

Air traffic movements can be increased to 264,000 from the current 241,000.

Reacting to the news, Stansted’s managing director, Stewart Wingate, said: “We are naturally delighted that the Secretaries of State have granted permission for the next phase of growth at Stansted. This secures our future up to 35 million passengers a year. We will now be studying the full detail of the decision, including the independent Planning Inspector’s report before commenting further. What we can say today though is that this is clearly great news for passengers and for businesses, located in the local community or across the wider region.”

The current restrictions were imposed by Uttlesford District Council (UDC) in 2003.

History:

• BAA Stansted submitted a planning application to Uttlesford District Council (UDC) on 26 April 2006 asking permission to remove the 25 million a year cap on passenger numbers, and to increase the limit on air transport movements (ATMs) to 264,000 a year. (Stansted is the only UK airport to have a passenger number  cap)
• UDC refused the application on 29 November, 2006, and BAA Stansted appealed the decision on 30 November, 2006
• An independent public inquiry was held from 30 May to 19 October, 2007

The approved planning application relates to growth on Stansted’s existing single runway, and is entirely separate to the application for the second runway development which was submitted in March 2008.

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