UK: No change to timetable for London runway decision

The British government is still on course to make a decision this summer on where to build a new London airport runway, a spokeswoman said, despite the political chaos caused by the EU exit vote. After Prime Minister David Cameron's announcement that he will resign by October, a group of business leaders wrote a letter to a newspaper on Monday calling for the long-awaited investment decision to be taken "as a matter of urgency". Cameron's government has taken four years to decide where to build a new runway, with Heathrow seen as the front-runner over rival Gatwick, and a final decision had been due in weeks. Former London mayor Boris Johnson, the front-runner to succeed Cameron as prime minister, has opposed expansion at Heathrow and once said he would lie down in front of the bulldozers to stop a third runway being built there. Past attempts to expand Heathrow, located close to densely-populated west London, have been hampered by local opposition, due to concerns about increased noise and air pollution. The CE of Gatwick, located south of the city in a less populated area, is due to say in a speech that Brexit has strengthened his argument that it would be easier and more effective to build the runway there. "It is now clearer than ever that only Gatwick can deliver the new runway Britain needs," Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate will tell a conference on Tuesday, according to extracts of the speech provided to media. "In these uncertain times that means Gatwick can give the country certainty of delivery. Britain cannot afford yet more delay."<br/>