The airport said on Thursday (3 August) the planning inspectorate will now take up to 18 months to decide whether the project can move forward. 

“We are pleased that the application to take forward our northern runway plans has been accepted by the planning inspectorate and will now progress to the examination stage of the development consent order planning process,” said Gatwick chief planning officer Tim Norwood. 

“In coming weeks, the airport will let residents and other stakeholders know how they can register their interest in taking part in the examination stage of the planning process, so they can submit comments and feedback on our important proposals."

Submitted to the planning inspectorate less than a month ago, the project aims to deploy the northern runway for everyday operations alongside the main one instead of just using it as a taxiway.

According to the airport, the additional runway could create around 14,000 new jobs and inject £1 billion into the region every year.

“Our plan will also improve airport resilience, meet future passenger demand, and increase competition in the London airport market,” the airport’s chief executive, Stewart Wingate, said in early July. 

Gatwick is not the only airport to have lodged applications to increase passenger capacity, as other London hubs such as Stansted, Luton and London City are currently working on their expansion plans.

Stansted announced plans for an extended terminal building earlier this month while London City is currently appealing Newham’s decision to block its plans to expand to 9 million annual passengers by 2031.