Travellers queue to check in for their flights at Gatwick Airport in London, Britain, 31 May 2022. Holidaymakers across the UK face continuing travel disruptions due to flight cancellations and lack of airport and airline staff during the first school holidays in England and Wales since the lifting of all UK Covid-19 travel restrictions. EPA-EFE/TOLGA AKMEN It approved the 2.2 billion-pound ($2.96 billion) project after it said in February that it was inclined to approve the expansion of the country's second-largest airport.
At the time, Transport Minister Heidi Alexander said she had issued a "minded to approve" letter for Gatwick's plan to bring its backup runway into full use to add millions of new passengers in the 2030s.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said on Sunday that following careful consideration, Alexander has issued a letter confirming she has approved the airport's application to expand operations, through routine use of its existing northern runway.
"After a lengthy and rigorous planning process, we welcome the government's approval of plans to bring our Northern Runway into routine use, ahead of the expected deadline," said VINCI Airports' managing director Steven Wingate in a statement, which was posted on Gatwick's website.
VINCI Airports owns a 50.01% stake in London Gatwick, according to its website.
Wingate said the investment is fully funded by the company's shareholders, while adding that "it is essential that any planning conditions enable us to realise the full benefits of the project and do not impose unnecessary constraints that make it uneconomic to invest in."
Gatwick's plan is to move the backup runway by 12 metres to meet safety standards for both runways to operate, which could be by the end of the decade, boosting trade and tourism and creating 14,000 jobs.
Alexander will want to ensure the Gatwick expansion project is water-tight as it could face a legal challenge given opposition from local communities and environmental groups.
The government has said that sustainable aviation fuel means airport enlargements do not derail net-zero targets, and as such it has also backed a new runway at Gatwick's bigger rival, Heathrow.
($1 = 0.7425 pounds)
(Reporting by Catarina Demony in London and Ananya Palyekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Chizu Nomiyama)