Green lobby and airlines slam BAA plan for new Stansted runway, terminal

LONDON (AFX) - Environment campaigners and airlines have criticised plans by airports operator BAA Ltd for a 1.4 bln stg new runway and terminal at Stansted airport in Essex.

They said the proposals, which BAA today said would cost less than previously thought, would be environmentally damaging and unnecessary.

BAA, part of Spanish construction firm Grupo Ferrovial SA, said the cost of opening the runway and terminal had fallen by 17.5 pct to 1.4 bln stg.

It also said the overall costs of Stansted's proposed expansion between now and 2030 were 43 pct lower than anticipated, at 2.2 bln stg, and the amount of land needed was 22 pct less than it estimated in December 2005.

BAA said the runway and terminal will open in 2015 and accommodate an extra 10 mln passengers a year, subject to planning permission.

The group representing residents and environmentalists around Stansted, Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE), described BAA's latest expansion plans for the airport as "belligerent and irresponsible".

It claimed Ferrovial was "concerned only with profit regardless of the devastating environmental impact which its plans would have both locally and globally."

SSE said Stansted was responsible last year for the equivalent of some five mln tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. With a second runway, this figure could rise to some 12 mln tonnes a year, it claimed.

Ryanair Holdings, one of Stansted's biggest users, urged the Civil Aviation Authority to reject the plans and said it would oppose them during the planning process and in the courts if necessary.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary said the proposed expansion would lead to a doubling of passenger charges and should be scaled down to a plan costing less than 1 bln stg.

EasyJet PLC chief executive Andy Harrison said: "The scheme remains over-engineered and too expensive. It may be good for BAA's shareholders, but it is not the right way forward for UK aviation and the travelling public."

Uttlesford District Council, the local authority responsible for deciding whether to approve or reject BAA's plans, said they would have "a hugely negative impact" on the environment.

"The authority will continue its absolute opposition to any new runway being built at Stansted," the council said in a statement.

However, the British Chambers of Commerce said it welcomed the plans "as a move forward for the UK economy."

BAA said the development would provide a parallel runway, 3,048 metres long and 2,200 metres to the south-east of the existing runway, and new parallel taxiways and cross-taxiways connecting the new runway with the existing runway.

There would also be around 42 aircraft stands and associated piers, a new passenger terminal building, increased car parking, improved bus and rail stations and a new control tower.

BAA chief executive Stephen Nelson said the announcement brings the prospect of a second runway at Stansted, for which the government reiterated its plans in the December 2006 Air Transport White Paper progress report, "one step closer".

"With an opening cost of 1.4 bln stg and a 22 pct (lower) land take, we are confident of delivering a development that's fit for purpose," Nelson said.

"It will provide the increased runway capacity that the UK economy needs, good facilities for passengers and value for money for airlines.

"We have also worked hard to reduce the impact on the local environment."

The full development of Stansted will not be complete until 2030, when the airport will be capable of handling 68 mln passengers a year.