Gatwick Airport expansion cleared after appeal rejection

The Court of Appeal rejected an appeal by Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions and activist Peter Barclay, upholding Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander’s decision to grant development consent for Gatwick Airport’s northern runway project. The appeal had followed a High Court dismissal of a judicial review.

The plan involves moving the existing Northern Runway north by about 12 metres, allowing simultaneous use of two runways, increasing annual capacity to up to 80 million passengers and adding roughly 100 000 flights per year. Gatwick expects the expansion to create about 14 000 jobs and contribute around £1 billion to the regional economy, with first flights under the new layout targeted for around 2030.

Gatwick’s legal advisers said the judgment provides clear guidance for future infrastructure projects, confirming the lawfulness of pragmatic planning approaches and the scope of a planning decision‑maker’s discretion.