Representation by Rainer Iyengar Krishnan
- Date submitted
- 26 October 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Gatwick Airport's plans to bring its so-called northern runway, the taxiway which runs parallel to its main "southern" runway and currently doubles up as a standby or emergency runway when the main runway is out of use, into routine use by shifting the "northern" runway's centre line 12 m to the north (and remove the southernmost 12 m of the existing "northern" runway) to maintain a minimum separation between the "southern" and "northern" runway of 210 m to enable the simultaneous use of both runways, whereby the new, realigned northern runway is to be used for takeoffs by narrowbodied / single aisle aircraft up to the size of an Airbus A320 or a Boeing 737 only, should be recommended for approval by His Majesty's Government for the following reasons: 1. Improve resilience of current airline schedules while leaving room for future growth as under the current runway usage regime at Gatwick there is very little spare capacity left to deal effectively and efficiently with unforeseen contingencies due to weather-related reasons in the Gatwick area and further afield or industrial action affecting flights from and to Gatwick, incl. overseas industrial action affecting outbound and inbound flights, especially during the peak summer month, when runway usage (in terms of available slots on the main, "southern" runway regularly exceeds well over 90%). This leads to frequent flight delays, cancellations and diversions at Gatwick, which not only inconvenience affected passengers but also lead to greater, avoidable environmental damage, as a result of inbound aircraft unable to land at Gatwick as scheduled circling the towns and villages in the airport's vicinity in stacks during which more fuel is burned at a higher rate than would be the case if there was sufficient spare runway capacity at Gatwick to deal with these contingencies. 2. To enable the airport to continue to attract a wide variety of air services operated by both full service, "full frills" and low cost, "no frills" airlines to a wide range of destinations across the world catering to both business and leisure travellers (incl. meeting the needs of the visiting friends and relations (VFR) market in the Gatwick catchment area), especially in regards of increasing Gatwick's attractiveness for blue chip, top quality long-haul airlines as this helps making Gatwick more of a serious competitor to Heathrow whilst helping to increase global air connectivity and export potential as a result of increased belly hold cargo capacity when services are operated by wide-body / twin-aisle aircraft (which is typically the case on the majority of long-haul air services) for the regions served by Gatwick Airport. 3. Ensuring Gatwick's flight operations become more resilient, with room for further, measured growth in turn ensures high levels of employment in the Gatwick catchment area, which post pandemic is even more important for the regions served by the airport than it was pre pandemic, especially in light of the rapid deterioration of local / regional employment prospects in retail and warehousing - what with the retrenchment and demise of former retail household names like Amazon, Boots, BHS, Debenhams, Iceland, W.H. Smith and Wilko in Crawley, the wider local region and beyond since the financial crisis - traditionally the two main alternative sources of employment to Gatwick Airport in Crawley and the wider local region. Maintaining a high level of local / regional employment at Gatwick itself and the regions it serves (and where most of its on- and off-site job holders live) helps keep the local region economically vibrant as well as helps pay for vital local services. To mitigate the negative consequences of an expanded airport for its local communities - especially in terms of both atmospheric pollution (incl. contribution to climate change) and noise pollution as well as to be a responsible neighbour from a social perspective, Gatwick should commit to the following: 1. As a reasonable tradeoff for having its plans to bring the "northern" runway into routine use recommended for approval by HM Government, operating hours should be restricted by banning all night flights (other than for emergencies) - a common occurrence at present and a major source of complaints for those living under Gatwick's flight paths, especially during peak summer months, ideally by restricting operating hours from either 6 am to 11 pm or 6:30 pm to 11:30 pm or, if this is not feasible operationally, at least from 5 am to 11 pm or 5:30 am to 11:30 pm to give local residents under the flight paths an uninterrupted nightly respite from aircraft noise and emissions for seven hours (ideally) / six hours (minimum). 2. Gatwick should take a leaf out of the book of Amsterdam Schiphol airport and agree to a total ban on private jets as a private jet passenger's carbon foot print is up to 45 times the size of an airline passenger's carbon footprint and nearly half of all private jet flights are empty positioning flights, thus representing a very wasteful usage of scarce runway capacity and an environmentally unsustainable form of aviation in a densely populated area like the Southeast of England. 3. Gatwick should conclude a new agreement with Crawley Borough Council, West Sussex County Council and the other local councils in its catchment area to not seek to revive its previous plans for another, wide-spaced full-length runway south of its existing main runway which could be simultaneously used with the existing runway for both takeoffs and landings (unlike its current proposal to bring its "northern" runway into routine use, which can only be used for takeoffs) and to release land outside the airport's existing perimeter which had originally been earmarked for a wide-spaced, full-length runway for housing / and or recreational use. 4. Gatwick should introduce a graded system of airport access (drop-off / pick-up) and parking charges for motorists, according to the environmental damage caused, with the highest charge levied on those driving to and from the airport (or being driven to and from the airport) in high-polluting SUVs. 5. Gatwick should continue to work with local, regional and national surface transport providers, such as Metrobus / Go Ahead and railway companies like Southern, Thameslink and Great Western Railways, to further improve local, regional and national public transport options, not only to and from the airport itself, but also for non-airport related local journeys, incl. making a greater financial contribution. 6. Gatwick should co-fund a new NHS hospital and a local university campus for Crawley, affiliated to either Brighton University or University of Sussex, based on the site of the Tilgate industrial park, the Broadfield industrial park or both and specialising in AI (=artificial intelligence), AR (=augmented reality), block chain technology and / or life sciences.