London’s three main airports get £8 billion investment
BAA has announced an £8.1 billion investment programme at London’s three main airports.
The 11-year programme comprises £6.6 billion for Heathrow to include Terminal 5 and improvements to the four existing terminals; £980 million for Gatwick to take the airport up to around 42 million passengers per annum with the existing two terminals and one runway; and £600 million for Stansted, where the £60 million terminal extension opened today.
BAA said the programme will be funded from internal resources and borrowing.
Passenger numbers at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted are forecast to grow from 104.9 million in 2001/2 to 153 million in 2012/13, with 84.7 million passengers using Heathrow alone by then.
Commenting on the investment, BAA chief executive Mike Hodgkinson (pictured) said: “Forecasting long term traffic growth in detail is difficult given the recent turmoil in the aviation industry and the fact that the government’s framework for airport development has not yet been published.
“However, there is no doubt that, long term, demand will continue to be strong and we are confident that traffic will double over the next 20 years. Today we are setting out our plans to invest over £800 million per annum – over £2 million per day – over the next 11 years. This investment is essential if Britain is to have the quality airports it needs”.
The following are examples given by BAA of the main investments, (in some cases, subject to planning permission):
Heathrow:
Around £3.1 billion on other works, including around £290 million in Terminal 1, £670 million in Terminal 3 and reconfiguration of pier served stands and provision of facilities to accommodate the A380 – just over £200 million.
Gatwick:
Because of considerable uncertainty about the rate and nature of traffic growth at Gatwick, BAA said the full programme will be reviewed during the course of the year to ensure that it best fits emerging traffic trends.
Stansted:
A planning application is currently under review by the local authority. Subject to planning permissions to grow the airport to around 25 million passenger per annum, BAA said it will invest a further £160 million in extending the terminal further, providing more car parking and aircraft facilities. BAA also said that in line with its long term aim to achieve the full potential of Stansted’s single runway, further investment is planned in the period to take airport capacity towards 35 million passengers per annum.
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