Plans for a second runway at Stansted have been submitted by owner BAA in a move sure to spark huge controversy from environmentalists and airlines opposed to the expansion.

The plans call for a two-runway, two-terminal airport to be open in 2015, serving 68 million passengers a year by around 2030.

The Stansted development is in addition to controversial plans for a third runway at BAA-owned Heathrow. 

BAA claims a new runway at the Essex airport would create more than 13,000 new jobs by 2030 and bring £9 billion in economic benefits to the UK.

The plans show a reduction in land required from around 700 hectares originally earmarked to 442 hectares.

The number of houses required for the expansion would be reduced by over 25% with the number of listed buildings lost reduced from 29 to 13, with 10 of these to be dismantled and rebuilt, BAA claims.

An extra 208 hectares of existing land adjacent to the extended airport boundary would be dedicated to a “comprehensive” nature conservation and landscaping scheme to reduce and offset the effects of the development

Around 70 stringent sustainability targets would be set, including:

*By 2030 Stansted’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy use will not exceed those in 2006
*By 2030, water supplied to Stansted will be no greater volume than that used by the single runway airport operation at present
*10% or less of waste to landfill by 2030
*By 2030, 70% of waste generated by the airport’s operation will be recycled



Investment is also planned in road and rail improvements.
 
BAA chairman Sir Nigel Rudd said: “We remain fully committed to building a second runway, a project that is central to government policy in delivering additional runway capacity in the South East.

“This important project will bring huge benefits to the East of England and UK economy, and will increase choice and opportunity for millions of business and leisure travellers."



Alastair McDermid, BAA Director for Stansted Generation 2, said: “Our proposals represent a significant investment by BAA to deliver the sustainable and responsible growth of air travel in the UK.

“They allow the national and regional economies to compete in an increasingly global market place and share in the huge social and economic benefits available.

“At the same time we have worked extremely hard to minimise the environmental  impacts that were anticipated by the Government when it published its Air Transport White Paper in 2003.



“The potential benefit of a second runway is enormous for business growth, for the creation of thousands of new jobs, for supporting inward investment and for boosting inbound tourism.

“And the social and cultural benefits of even greater opportunities for leisure travel and to visit friends and family cannot be underestimated.



“But this is not growth at any cost. The global issue of climate change is one which we take very seriously and is recognised as requiring international action.

“There is agreement that the best way of addressing the challenge is through a global emissions trading scheme, and BAA has been leading the call for the aviation industry to be part of that.”



by Phil Davies