Stansted expansion loved and hated

Source: Exec Digital UK

Date :10/10/2008 10:45:27

The government has controversially approved a massive expansion of Stansted airport, just days after signalling it would adopt tougher emissions targets.

The Essex airport, the hub of budget airlines such as EasyJet and Ryanair, has received government approval to increase capacity, handling an additional 10 million more passengers and 23,000 more flights annually.

Newly-appointed Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon overruled the bar on expansion from local councils and ignored the concerns of many green groups to approve the plans.

While Stansted’s Managing Director Stewart Wingate said the decision was "great news for the millions of leisure and business travellers who depend on Stansted to keep them connected with Europe and the wider world," others were outraged at the plans. The Stop Stansted Expansion campaign group described the announcement as “entirely predictable, cynical and unjustified.”

The decision comes in the same week as the Government’s Climate Change Committee said aviation emissions must be taken into account when measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker said the approved expansion “shows the gaping void between environmental rhetoric and reality."

“I know Stansted is a jewel in the economic crown of the eastern counties but what we really need is a comprehensive airport strategy for the whole of the southeast of England,” said Bernard Jenkin, MP for North Essex, the area affected. “Before Stansted was first opened as an international airport …we were promised categorically that Stansted would never expand beyond 15 million passengers per year.”

While many have signalled the importance of airline links for UK business, even some airlines have expressed doubts: both Ryanair and EasyJet have signalled that their overall number of flights may drop if the airport increases fees to pay for the expansion.