Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the rate of growth of air traffic at Gatwick Airport in the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

The last Department for Transport forecasts for Gatwick and the other main UK airports were published in January 2013. These showed that air passengers at Gatwick would grow by 11% in the period 2015 to 2025. This is a 1% annual rate of growth.

The independent Airports Commission published their own forecasts for air traffic, including at Gatwick, as part of their Final Report on 1 July 2015. The Government will not be commenting on any of the Airports Commission’s recommendations until it has had time to examine all of the evidence.