Second runway, other facilities at Stansted to cost 2.7 billion pounds

Second runway, other facilities at Stansted to cost 2.7 billion pounds

	Published : Fri, 09 Dec 2005 12:05 By : Paula Demarzio Print this Story

LONDON: Britain's airport operator BAA Plc. said it will cost 2.7 billion pounds to construct a second runway and related facilities at Stansted airport near London. This figure is almost 30 per cent less than estimates for the work projected by the government.

The government wants to construct the second runway at the airport as part of its 30-year strategy for British airports to meet the increasing travel demands.

BAA said the investment will create a two-runway Stansted airport capable of handling around 76 million passengers a year by 2030. The project, called Stansted Generation 2, is divided into phases, with the first phase to be taken up at a cost of 1.7 billion pounds and getting completed by 2013. The airport will then have a capacity of 15 million passengers a year. Expenditure in subsequent phases is clubbed at 1 billion pounds. The airport now handles 21 million passengers a year.

BAA's chief executive Mike Casper said Stansted G2 is a very deliverable project and "now we're ready to consult with local communities, airlines and other stakeholders to test our thinking.''

BAA had indicated that it would propose a levy of up to 1 pound on passengers at Heathrow and Gatwick airports to help fund the runway, in addition to increased charges per passenger at Stansted to 5 pounds by 2008 from 3 pounds. It will have to get the airlines using the airport to consent to these measures. The charges are regulated by the country's Civil Aviation Authority.

Stansted has been mostly patronised by budget airlines Ryanair Holdings Plc and EasyJet Plc. The passenger numbers at the airport has risen from 1 million in 1991 to current 21 million. The existing runway was built by the U.S. in 1942 and extensively used by the Royal Air Force during World War II.

BAA is also renovating one of the four terminals at London's Heathrow airport at a cost of 1.5 billion pounds. The company had handled 10.4 million passengers in November, an increase of 2.2 per cent compared with November 2004. Compared with October 2005, this represented a 1 per cent growth.