Boosting the number of flights landing and taking off at London Stansted could have a negative impact on neighbouring airports, it has been suggested.
Jeremy Taylor, director of Gatwick Diamond Business Association, told the Crawley News that plans to boost capacity by ten million a year could lead to stiff rivalry between the two airports.
Transport secretary Geoff Hoon has already thrown his weight behind the Stansted proposals, though no specifics have been finalised about whether a second runway will be built.
Commenting on the potential fallout to neighbouring Gatwick, Taylor noted that expanding Stansted’s operations could mean the airport moves further into the business market.
“Gatwick attracts a lot of business customers, whereas Stansted is more of a tourism-based airport,” he explained.
“But this expansion is looking at increasing capacity by ten million passengers a year and that is going to bring substantial changes, meaning they could attract more business trade.”
Stansted Airport is presently restricted to a maximum capacity of 25 million passengers per year, a figure that would rise to 35 million under the new proposals.
