UK: Heathrow runway bid buoyed by McLoughlin's overtures to industry

UK transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said opponents of airport expansion in southern Britain should take no comfort from December's delay in deciding the location of a new runway and that the time will be used to construct a watertight case for growth that's immune to legal challenges. Prime minister David Cameron's govt has accepted the need for an extra landing strip and will reach a verdict on whether it should be built at London's main Heathrow hub or the competing Gatwick site in time for the project to be completed on schedule by 2030, McLoughlin said Wednesday. McLoughlin also said the runway choice should be determined by which option best serves the whole of Britain, something Heathrow, which wants to expand annual passenger numbers to 135m from 75m in 2015, argues it's best-placed to do. <br/>