BAA Aims To Open Stansted Runway By 2013
12 May 2006
British airport operator BAA on Monday said it still hoped to complete a second runway at Stansted Airport northeast of London by 2013 although it was budgeting for a two year delay in the project.
In documents outlining BAA's spending plans released last week, BAA said its forecasts assumed an opening date of 2014/15 for the GBP£4 billion (USD$7.43 billion) project, two years later than the previous target.
However, a BAA spokesman said it was still hopeful of a 2013 opening date for the runway and the targets had not changed.
"We just took a more cautious view of the possible opening times," the spokesman said.
BAA warned a year ago the runway's earliest completion date was 2013, and that was a "challenging target". The government had previously said it expected the runway to open in 2011-2012.
The government has backed plans for the second runway at Stansted as part of a 30 year strategy to cope with soaring demand for air travel, particularly in England's crowded south-east.
The new runway is strongly opposed by airlines, local residents and environmental groups.