Government approval for increasing the use of Stansted’s single runway to allow it to cater for up to 35 million passengers a year has been welcomed by owner BAA.

The green light from new transport secretary Geoff Hoon and Hazel Blears, communities and local government secretary, will remove a 25 million-passenger a year cap on the airport. It will enable the Essex airport to increase the limit on air transport movements to 264,000 a year.

Stansted, the UK's third busiest airport, currently handles almost 23 million passengers and 184,000 air transport movements a year.

Airport managing director, Stewart Wingate said: "We are naturally delighted with this decision coming as it does after a full and independent public inquiry last year. With longer term forecasts predicting passenger growth, this decision secures our future and allows us to plan ahead with certainty. 

"We will now take time to study the full detail of the decision, including the independent Planning Inspector's report, before commenting further. What we can say today however is that this is great news for the millions of leisure and business
travellers who depend on Stansted to keep them connected with Europe and the wider world."