BAA announced today that it is to invest approximately £9.3 billion over the next 11 years upgrading its three London airports - Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. The company also released a forecast of average growth at the three airports, saying that it expected passenger traffic to rise by 2.8 percent a year in the period to 2018.
Major airport facilities planned in the investment programme include a second runway and terminal at Stansted, the replacement of Heathrow's Terminal 2 with Heathrow East and the renovation of Heathrow's Terminals 3 and 4, and new baggage systems at Heathrow to provide a world-class level of performance across the whole of the airport by the time of the London Olympics in 2012, BAA said. The programme does not include the cost of a third runway at Heathrow or a second runway at Gatwick.
Passenger numbers at Heathrow will increase from 67.3m last year to 84.4m by 2018, according to BAA's predictions. Stansted will overtake Gatwick as London's second busiest airport, with passenger figures of 45.0m against 23.8m last year, while passengers at Gatwick will increase by 18 percent to 40.5m.
The forecasts assume that a new runway and terminal open at Stansted in time for the start of 2015/16, Heathrow's Terminal 5 is in full operation before 2008/09 and other upgrades at Heathrow, including Heathrow East, go ahead. The introduction of either mixed mode operation or a third runway at Heathrow, both of which are undergoing environmental impact studies, is not included in the forecasts.
Does anybody know whether MAN wants to take 2nd or 3rd spot by this time?
Cheers.