Stansted airport publishes Sustainable Development Plan

London’s Stansted Airport has released its Sustainable Development Plan (SDP) to demonstrate how the new runway will be developed over the next 10-15 years.

Stansted is currently the UK’s fastest growing airport with over 20 million passengers flying through every year. However, in its current state the airport cannot reach its full potential of 40-45 million passengers a year and is therefore looking to increase its capacity.

With the increase in airport boundaries and approved environmental limits, the airport is set to create over 10,000 new onsite jobs and contribute an additional £4.6 billion to the British economy.

If the SDP goes ahead the increase in international connectivity for the UK will also mean additional investment and trade into the country.

Increased rail links

Stansted has publicised its interest in working alongside partners and stakeholders as well as local communities as part of their SDP. They intend to use the opinions and ideas generated from this collaboration as part of the future development of the airport to ensure passenger satisfaction.

Their extensive consultation resulted in ten public events being held in surrounding towns and villages while more than 11,000 individuals logged onto their website to share their opinions.

The majority of those involved in the consultation agreed with the expansion of the existing runway capacity as long as environmental measures were put in place but there was one key issues raised by stakeholders.

This concerned how passengers would get to and from the airport – highlighting the train journey times between Stansted and London in particular. 

As a result, there is currently strong support for the airport, the Department for Transport and Network Rail to work together to identify new ways to speed up rail services on the West Anglia main line.

A more accessible Britain

Andrew Harrison, Managing Director of Stansted Airport, commented:

“Stansted has such a bright future and will play a key role in the region’s long term success by providing the international connectivity needed to make this part of the UK a great place to live and work.”

With increased links serving London, Britain can be assured of future investments into the country with additional trade taking place.

If you are thinking of heading on your travels it’s important to make sure you have budget travel insurance put in place in advance.

Date Created: 05/03/2015