Stansted airport owner to make case for second runway Manchester Airports Group, the new owner of Stansted, will on Friday make the case for adding a second runway at the Essex airport. But MAG is also expected to say that Stansted would be a suitable location should an independent inquiry into how to solve the southeast of England's airport capacity crunch conclude that a new hub is needed away from Heathrow, two people familiar with the company's thinking said. The operator is set to say that Stansted could be the most cost effective location for a four-runway hub - capable of dealing with up to 160m passengers each year - should a commission chaired by Sir Howard Davies come out against Heathrow's expansion. The biggest likely barrier to Heathrow's expansion is aircraft noise because the airport is located close to west London and passenger jets approaching the hub usually fly over the capital. The area around Stansted has a much lower population density not only compared to Heathrow but to the southeast's other main airports - Gatwick, Luton and London City. MAG, which bought Stansted in February from Heathrow Airport Holdings, is primarily interested in adding one more runway at the Essex airport, enabling it to handle up to 90m passengers a year. The company believes this additional infrastructure could be sufficient to meet the southeast's needs, particularly if Gatwick was also to add a second runway. But MAG's willingness to contemplate turning Stansted into a four-runway hub means there are now at least three such ideas before the Davies commission. On Wednesday, Heathrow, the UK's only hub which is operating at near-full capacity, set out proposals to add a third runway and, possibly, a fourth. On Monday, Boris Johnson, London's mayor, backed the case for a new four-runway hub on the sparsely populated Isle of Grain in the Thames estuary - in a proposal similar to one by Lord Foster, the architect. Meanwhile, Heathrow Airport Holdings is asking the Davies commission to consider - in the context of the company's proposals for a third runway - an overhaul of the way the company secures a return on investments by charging airlines for using its facilities. Heathrow wants a more predictable regulatory regime that would give its shareholders more confidence that they would obtain what they regard as a fair return on a third runway that could cost between £14bn and £18bn. A fourth runway could cost a further £14bn. Some of Heathrow's shareholders have been angered by how the Civil Aviation Authority in April proposed a real terms cut in the amount the airport can charge airlines in the five-year regulatory period that starts in 2014. Heathrow is proposing that the Davies commission consider the case for a regulatory period that lasts much longer than the usual five years - which would provide the company's shareholders with greater predictability about their returns. The company also wants the commission to look at a business rates levy that could help fund schemes to compensate residents living around the airport who are affected by aircraft noise. The coalition, which is opposed to any new runways in the southeast during this parliament, has asked the commission to produce a final report after the 2015 general election. A Conservative party aide declined to comment on Heathrow's proposals but a Liberal Democrat official said the airport's expansion plans were "fantasy" so long as the party was in government. "There will not be a new runway while we are in government, period," said the official. The Labour party is understood to be split over the case for Heathrow's expansion, with Ed Miliband, leader, opposed but Ed Balls, shadow chancellor, broadly in favour.