Court of Appeal refuses challenge to Gatwick second runway

On Tuesday, Lord Justice Holgate and Lord Justice Dove issued a 29-page ruling refusing the applications, finding each ground of appeal "unarguable" and saying neither appeal had a real prospect of success. The applicants were Peter Barclay and Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions, known as Cagne.

The High Court had already dismissed their judicial review claims on 23 June. Mr Justice Mould found it was "neither illogical nor contradictory" for the transport secretary not to refuse the development on the basis that it would materially affect the government's ability to meet its carbon reduction targets.

Gatwick chief executive Pierre-Hugues Schmit said the ruling "brings to an end an eight-year planning and legal process" and means the airport can "press on" and "move forward into the design and delivery phase".

The decision came the same day Luton Rising, the council-owned company behind Luton airport, said all legal challenges to its expansion had been cleared, after the Supreme Court dismissed a final appeal against a High Court ruling upholding approval to raise capacity from 19 million to 32 million passengers by the mid-2040s. The government also backs a third runway at Heathrow.

Gatwick has also filed a claim against Alexander over slot allocation, New Civil Engineer reported.

The project

The project is privately financed rather than backed by the taxpayer. It moves the emergency northern runway 12m (39ft) north so it can be used for departures by smaller aircraft alongside the main strip. Gatwick has called the scheme "shovel-ready".

Gatwick estimates the expansion could result in more than 100,000 extra flights a year by the late 2030s, and transport secretary Heidi Alexander has said the airport would gain around 13 million more passengers. Ivan Stevenson, an aviation management associate professor at Coventry University, noted that Gatwick has raised maximum scheduled movements from 55 an hour in 2025 to 57 in 2026, improving productivity on its existing runway.

The airport is building towards a target of 80 million annual passengers. That is roughly double the 42.8 million it handled in 2025, which was still below the 46.6 million of 2019. Stevenson argues the extra capacity is needed because demand is concentrated in the places, times and markets airlines value most, and scarce slots at Heathrow can push carriers towards Gatwick.

Gatwick remains Europe's busiest single-runway airport, with more than 40 million passengers a year, and the UK's second busiest behind Heathrow.

Noise, climate and what the judges accepted

Mr Justice Mould said Alexander had accepted the development would have "moderately adverse and significant effects", but concluded these would not "materially impact" the UK government's ability to meet its net zero targets.

Cagne argued the environmental assessment did not properly evaluate the significance of inbound flight emissions. The group also said the plans wrongly relied on the government's Jet Zero strategy for decarbonising aviation. It raised noise and what it called a lack of airport funding for sewage treatment.

Julia Eriksen, the group's solicitor at Leigh Day, said campaigners believed approval came "despite a number of flaws" in the application.

Barclay said he was "very disappointed" and called the decision to allow Gatwick to expand "fundamentally flawed".

Responding to Tuesday's ruling, Alexander called it "a major milestone for Gatwick and for local communities" and pointed to more than £219m of government investment in green fuel production to cut emissions from flying.

What happens next

Gatwick has said it hopes to have the second runway in operation as early as 2030, with the first flights expected then. Gatwick estimates the project will deliver 14,000 new jobs and a £1bn boost to the economy every year.

Beyond the runway, the permission covers taxiway changes, terminal extensions and new highway works. All arrivals will keep using the longer southern runway, as will larger departing aircraft, while smaller planes leave from the northern strip on existing flight paths. The expansion is designed for narrowbody departures such as Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s.