Stansted plans to submit a planning application within months to raise the airport’s annual passenger cap up to 51 million passengers.
This will involve the airport growing further than its currently permitted limit of 43 million passengers a year.
Stansted handled almost 30 million passengers last year as the UK’s fourth busiest airport.
The aim is to achieve growth without any increase in the number of flights that the airport is already permitted to operate on its single runway.
A statement said: “The airport’s ability to grow to serve up to 51 million passengers a year is a result of airlines planning to use larger models of modern, efficient aircraft than previously forecast, enabling more people to fly on each plane and meeting additional passenger demand with flight limits remaining unchanged.”
A public consultation on a long-term plan for growth over the next 20 years opened on Tuesday and will run until March 10.
The Sustainable Development Plan (SDP) sets out how Stansted intends to make best use of the airport’s existing single runway and outlines how it will manage the impact of the airport’s operation on local communities to the 2040s.
This includes:
- Improvements to M11 Junction 8 to reduce congestion
- Ensuring half of all passenger journeys are by public transport, to relieve pressure on local roads
- Funds for local bus services, roads and measures to tackle fly-parking
- Working with train operators to improve the Stansted Express
- Airport infrastructure powered by 100% renewable energy helping to achieve Net Zero target requirement by 2038
- Working with partners to nearly double the size of Stansted Airport College, to train more young people
Airport managing director Gareth Powell said: “Stansted today serves 30 million passengers a year, and this number is forecast to grow over the next 20 years, so it’s only sensible to start making plans now.
“With up to 51 million passengers a year expected by the 2040s our plan puts in place the measures now to support growth in the future.
“It’s about making the best use of our single runway, providing education and training opportunities, managing our environmental impact and helping relieve the pressure on local roads.
“Over the next few weeks, we will be consulting with local residents, businesses and passengers on our plan ahead of submitting a planning application in the coming months.
“We understand the airport’s operation and growth is an important issue, especially for people living close to us, so the consultation is an opportunity to engage widely with our local community on how Stansted grows in the most sustainable and efficient way possible to make the best use of its existing capacity.”