The plan for a second Stansted Airport runway has been pushed back, not to be built for nearly another decade, according to reports on Tuesday. The Civil Aviation Authority has taken the Competition Commission’s recommendation to exclude the project, which is worth £2.3 billion, from the price regime over the next 5 years until March 2014.

This decision means that the British Airports Authority, the owner of Stansted Airport, won’t have any funding from increased fees in order to finance the development work until another price regime is initiated in 6 years. The watchdog questioned the expansion’s urgency last month against the deteriorating financial and economic conditions.

The traffic volume per month at the Stansted Airport have been declining for a year. The Competition Commission says their traffic forecasts show that a second runway will not be a necessity until as soon as 2017, which is 2 years after what the British Airports Authority proposed.

On Tuesday, the Civil Aviation Authority said they are proposing to freeze fees at the airport for both 2009/10 and 2010/11. The British Airports Authority said they are disappointed a major element of their preparations for the runway expansion has been ruled out. They said that they will keep pressing for regulatory framework, which will reflect the entire expense of the expansion proposal for Stansted Airport.

However, the proposals from the Civil Aviation Authority were welcomed by easyJet and Ryanair, which are the largest airlines at the airport. They have been campaigning for the capital spending and fees to be kept in check at Stansted. easyJet said that keeping the prices broadly flat during the next few years should make sure that passengers will be protected from the worst monopolistic excesses of the British Airports Authority.

Learn more about the airport at: www.stanstedairport.com