Airport workers back Stansted expansion

Stansted Airport employees have staged a demonstration to show their support for plans to enlarge the base.

Members of the Unite union gathered at a public inquiry into whether the airport can be expanded and argued that further growth would boost the economy and make new jobs available, BBC News reports.

Stansted currently handles around 23.5 million passengers a year but is appealing for the limit on its passenger numbers to be increased to 35 million.

MP Sir Alan Hazlehurst has said that further expansion at the hub should not be permitted, leading workers to accuse him of being opposed to employment growth.

Sir Alan said: "There is a misconceived idea that somehow I am anti-jobs and that is most certainly not the case…I'm talking purely about whether this airport should be expanded."

One Stansted worker told the BBC: "It should expand because it's protecting my job at present and it's going to create employment in the future for many people in the area.

"It is going to generate money and prosperity for all local businesses and it will give us the prospect to negotiate better terms and working conditions at the airport."