But we're keeping the details of their plans to bring its standby runway, just north of the main runway, into routine use on our website as a point of reference together with the details of our own responses.

To achieve their plans the existing runway will be widened to the north by 12 metres and the centre line will be realigned. This then complies with international safety requirements.

Due to the size of the proposal, which takes annual passenger numbers to 76 million and aircraft movements to 386,000, it is classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.  This is a massive increase from the 2019 figures of 49 million passengers and 283,000 flights.

Gatwick will therefore have to apply for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to build and operate the altered runway. 

The current consultation, which closes on 1st December, 2021, is not the DCO application itself.  That is likely to be in 2022.

But it will be the only opportunity for the public to have a direct say on Gatwick’s expansion plans.

Gatwick hopes to get consent to start the first stages of the runway development process by 2023, starting actual building work in 2024, with the runway finished and operating by 2029.  When fully operational this project alone will allow up to 60,000 more flights per year than in 2019.

In addition Gatwick intends to operate another 40,000 annual flights by making greater use of its main runway. That does not require any planning consent.

Combined these expansion plans mean an overall increase of well over 100,000 flights per year, nearly 40% more than in 2019. 

In their consultation Gatwick have made some unverified and extravagant claims about numbers of new jobs and local economic benefit.