The proposed expansion, revealed in BAA’s ‘Interim Gatwick Airport Master Plan’ this week, says the airport should be handling 40m passengers by 2015 – and 80m just 15 years later. It accepts that a court ruling prevents the construction of a new runway at Gatwick until at least 2019, but urges company managers to draft blueprints for a new runway and terminal so work can start on the expansion by 2011 – ready for completion in 2023 after the legal restrictions on expansion will have been lifted.
Local Green Party Euro-MP Caroline Lucas condemned the plans as disastrous: "Expanding Gatwick to this size will be a disaster – for the climate, the local community, and even British democracy.
"Aviation is the fastest-growing source of the greenhouse gas emissions which are fuelling climate change – and if we are to stave off its most devastating impacts we must simply fly less – not more. Airports should be reducing in size, not expanding.
"Nearby residents will be forced to endure a massive increase in noise, traffic congestion, pollution and disturbed sleep – which the European Court of Human Rights has ruled to be unlawful.
"And BAA’s plans show the company is treating the law and British democracy with contempt: by publishing these proposals in advance of the current expansion ban’s expiry, BAA is making clear that it views the British courts as a temporary obstacle to its business growth plan, an obstacle it can overcome by applying the right political pressure early enough."
Dr Lucas, who is a member of the European Parliament’s influential Environment Committee and is author of the recently-adopted plans for the EU to tackle the aviation sector’s impact on climate change, added: "This Government’s love affair with the aviation industry is undermining all its stated efforts to tackle climate change. More people are flying than ever before, and CO2 emissions continue to rise.
"If Blair is serious about cutting emissions, he must demand a tough package of measures – such as those I have drafted for the European Parliament – to ensure the airlines are reducing their emissions year-on-year.
"Any support for expanding Gatwick will make that harder, not easier, and the Government must state its firm opposition to BAA’s anti-social and potentially devastating plan for the airport."