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Gatwick to study economics of airport to win cabinet support for expansion

LONDON's Gatwick International has commissioned a study by consultants Oxford Economics to be completed by November into the positive effects the airport has on the local, regional and national levels.

The move follows last week's statement from London Heathrow that government approval to build a third runway would be "the first step in helping Britain create a stronger and fairer economy in the wake of Brexit".

The airport operator highlighted that there would be an immediate economic benefit to receiving the green-light for its expansion plan, especially in terms of job creation.

Heathrow also took the opportunity to assert that it "currently handles 29 per cent of non-EU UK exports while Gatwick moves 0.2 per cent and has no plans to build the infrastructure to move more".

It further declared: "In contrast, expansion of Heathrow will double the airport's already substantial cargo capacity.

"Heathrow expansion will connect more of Britain's great cities to the growing markets of the world, resulting in GBP56 billion (US$72.8 billion) more growth and 100,000 more jobs outside of London and the south than Gatwick."

In response to Heathrow's statement, Gatwick Airport chief executive Stewart Wingate said: "Gatwick has strong ambitions to develop over the coming decade."

He added: "Six years after we came into independent ownership. Gatwick Airport is now reaching the scale and scope to have much broader and positive impact on the UK economy."