Gatwick 'optimistic' on second runway decision

THE boss of Gatwick airport today said he was "optimistic" about being given the all clear to create a full-scale second runway by the Government by February.

- Jonathan Prynn

He was speaking as a planning inspectorate examination of Gatwick's £2.2 billion Northern Runway proposals enters its final days before concluding on Tuesday.

The panel of inspectors are due to give their formal recommendation to the Government by late November with a decision from ministers expected within three months of that more than eight years after the runway was first proposed.

Gatwick's CEO Stewart Wingate told the Standard: "We are certainly optimistic because we are very confident of what we have put forward, it's a very strong proposal fully privately financed that is ready to be delivered. We can get spades in the ground very quickly to deliver the project with all the benefit it would bring for London and the South-East.