Stansted aims to submit plans for a new runway some time in the next decade, according to the boss of parent company Manchester Airports Group.
Chief executive Charlie Cornish insisted that present expansion rates meant that his airport would apply for the repeal of existing local council limits and then lobby for a second runway to satisfy demand.
Stansted’s projected rate of growth will see it pass through its local authority-capped capacity of 35 million and hit its physical capacity on one runway of 45 million by 2030.
That means that by the mid-2020s it will have applied to the government of the day to have its council cap removed and will have re-submitted plans for a new runway.
Asked by the Times what impact the eventual ruling on London airport capacity by the Airports Commission will have on Stansted’s growth, Cornish said: “Whether its Heathrow or Gatwick, it is not material to our plans.
“In our view, what is the best for the UK is a network of competing airports and increased rail connectivity between them.
“What that means for Stansted is improved connections between London Liverpool Street and the construction of Crossrail 2 [the Herts-Surrey trans-capital project ] and, in the case of Manchester, the delivery of HS2 and HS3 [the proposed London-Manchester and Leeds-Manchester high-speed lines].”
He was speaking as MAG revealed that Stansted’s passenger numbers had increased by 1.2 million to 11.3 million in the six months to the end of September.