Long-term plans
By using new technologies on Gatwick’s Main Runway and innovative proposals to bring the existing Northern Runway into routine use, Gatwick’s Master Plan offers an agile and low-impact way of unlocking new capacity and increased resilience from within the airport’s existing infrastructure.
Read our summary document below or download it as a PDF
Gatwick master plan
As part of the airport planning process - and reflecting industry best practice - Gatwick creates and regularly publishes a ‘master plan’ to show how the airport intends to develop and grow in the longer term. The master plan also helps to inform the wider regional and local planning process.
In October 2018, we published our latest draft master plan and consulted publicly on it. In line with Government policy our draft master plan looked at how Gatwick could ‘make best use of the existing runways’. We set out three scenarios for future growth and asked for views on each of the different scenarios.
The consultation responses showed broad support for growth at Gatwick in line with Government policy, both through making more efficient use of the existing runway and by the introduction of a dual runway operation using the existing Northern Runway.
Following the consultation, we published a full consultation report document which describes the consultation process, the key themes raised and Gatwick’s initial response to the feedback received. We also published the final version of our Master Plan 2019.*
Some of the issues raised in the masterplan consultation were:
Creating the opportunity for resilience and growth
As described in Scenario 1 of our masterplan, we will continue to secure Gatwick’s longer term future through the use of technology to increase the capacity on our existing runway.
We will simultaneously develop Scenario 2, an innovative dual runway operation using the existing Northern Runway, which will also deliver greater operational resilience as well as allowing sustainable growth in the capacity of the airport.
As one of the biggest private investments in the region, the dual runway scheme will deliver greater connectivity, a better passenger experience through greater competition, and an economic boost that secures jobs and opportunities for generations to come. These benefits can all be delivered while keeping the airport’s noise footprint broadly similar to today’s levels, and with minimal disruption to our neighbours and the environment.
Our Northern Runway Proposals
We've set out our plans to bring our existing Northern Runway into routine use alongside our Main Runway. Find out more about our Northern Runway plans.