Pioneering pub chain JD Wetherspoon is considering securing a 24-hour licence for its pubs at Gatwick airport.
The chain has already put in an application to Leeds City Council for 24-hour opening at the city railway station.
It is deciding whether to lodge applications for pubs at Victoria and Liverpool Street stations in London. Further applications for Wetherspoon pubs at Gatwick, Heathrow, Stansted and Edinburgh airports could follow, said spokesman Eddie Gershon.
The chain also wants to extend opening times in most other outlets although there are no plans for 24-hour business across the board.
Mr Gershon said: "We have 650 pubs across the UK in total.
About 13 are within railway stations and airports. We have made the application because those sites are open 24 hours."
The Licensing Act, which allows 24-hour opening, comes into full force in England and Wales in November, despite concerns about binge-drinking.
The Wetherspoon chain has already led the way by introducing smoke-free areas in pubs and plans to ban smoking in all its pubs by May 2006.
April 19, 2006
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