Plans for expansion at Gatwick Airport

Many of the biggest airports in the world rely on Chiorino’s conveyor and process belts to run smoothly, whether it’s for handling baggage at check-in or transporting suitcases to the luggage hold. The busier the airport, the more important it is for the equipment and infrastructure of the airport to be up to the task.

One airport equipped with Chiorino conveyor belts is Gatwick Airport, which recently made public its 2018 draft master plan. Back in May, a five-year, £1.1bn investment plan was announced, including the addition of six new departure gates.

In October, the airport revealed that its emergency runway may soon be used on a regular basis, which would increase the airport’s passenger capacity by up to thirty per cent. There is a 40-year planning agreement preventing the emergency runway from being used in this manner, but it will expire next year.

A spokesman said that the airport was “exploring how to make best use of its existing runways, including the possibility of bringing its existing standby runway into routine use.”

The plans have been criticised for failing to consider the impact of expansion on nearby residents. Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign manager Peter Barclay said that “the impact in noise terms will probably be quite significant for those communities particularly to the north of the airport.”

The draft plan also notes that the airport is continuing to safeguard land that could potentially house a second runway, though they are not “actively pursuing” this as an option.

Despite only currently operating a single runway, Gatwick is the UK’s second-busiest airport behind Heathrow – which also uses Chiorino conveyor belts – and is used by around 45m passengers every year.

As well as airports, Chiorino supply conveyor and process belts to a wide variety of industries all over the UK including textiles, food and packaging. For any enquiries, please feel free to contact Chiorino UK on 01977 691 880 or by email at sales@chiorino.co.uk.