Gatwick’s second runway has secured permission for future routine use, prompting officials to celebrate the discovery of a substantial airport project in the exact place where its most obvious component has been sitting for years.
This does not mean passengers can immediately wander across the tarmac and demand a gate. The consent still involves taxiway changes, terminal extensions, roads, rivers, temporary construction and mitigation works. The northern runway already exists, however, giving the project the rare advantage of beginning with the bit that is plainly visible from the air, the road and probably several hotel bedrooms.
Gatwick could eventually handle up to 80 million passengers a year. The airport says its £2.2bn investment will unlock growth, tourism and trade. The existing strip still needs substantial work before the proposed operation can begin.
“We left no stone unturned,” said Miles, Inspector of Pre Existing Tarmac. “Although we did not need to move many stones. The runway was under the aircraft.”
Gatwick submitted the application in July 2023. A six month examination allowed communities, councils and other interested parties to present evidence before recommendations went to ministers in November 2024. The final consent therefore represents years of planning for a facility whose defining physical object was available for inspection throughout, assuming anyone thought to look down.
The phrase “existing northern runway” has acquired an impressive administrative sheen. It makes a strip of asphalt sound like a shy infrastructure project that needed committees, public examination and a formal invitation before agreeing to come indoors. Somewhere, a government form is preparing to ask whether the runway has always identified as a runway.
Supporters point to extra capacity and better connections. Critics have raised environmental and local concerns. Planning conditions and mitigation may require more paperwork than most aircraft require fuel.
The runway is now waiting for its conditions to be explained. It has asked whether its potholes qualify as heritage assets, while the baggage carousel has applied for permission to rotate. The carousel expects a decision shortly after the next suitcase, which is still considered an ambitious timetable.
Real story: Gatwick statement, 21 September 2025, with later corroboration from Planning Inspectorate, 22 September 2025.
