UK airport growth shows no signs of slowing as key expansion decisions loom

Surging passenger traffic at UK airports has shown no signs of slowing as officials continue to deliberate over key expansion decisions in the coming months.

Both Heathrow and London Stansted reported record annual passenger numbers on Monday, with 84m and 30m flyers passing through each hubs’ gates in 2024.

The figures will come as little surprise to those in the industry, which has cashed in on booming travel demand in the three years following Covid-19 era lockdowns.

But such soaring numbers will likely factor into looming government decisions on a number of airports’ bids to expand capacity.

Labour has already given the green light for a major £1.1bn upgrade at Stansted, and in August overturned Newham Council’s ruling blocking a bid by London City to extend flying hours.

It now faces a dilemma over proposals from Gatwick, the UK’s second biggest airport, and Luton. A decision on Gatwick’s £2.2bn plan for a second runway is due by the end of February, while Luton is looking at a deadline of 3 April for whether it can increase its annual passenger cap from 18m to 32m.

Approving or opposing either scheme poses an existential headache for the government, which has pledged to supercharge economic growth whilst also slashing carbon emissions.

And ministers’ palms are already sweating.

A decision on Luton’s £2.4bn project was pushed back for a third time in December, sparking warnings from the airport’s owners not to delay further.

In November, bosses at Gatwick urged Keir Starmer to avoid letting a decision on its own proposals “fester on ministers’ desks.”

It is impossible to say which way Labour will go. The signals so far suggest a sympathetic approach to airport expansion, but the cabinet remains split on the biggest decision of all; whether to allow a third runway at Heathrow.

Energy secretary Ed Miliband has long-opposed the project, while Chancellor Rachel Reeves signalled in June Labour could back it.

Heathrow has indicated it may finally decide whether to push forward with the long-delayed project in 2025.

Such a move would pile more pressure than both Gatwick and Luton’s schemes combined and will be firmly on ministers’ minds in the coming months.

Starmer and Reeves know the government’s legally binding net-zero commitments, and its anti-Nimby reputation, are at stake.