Transport Secretary Alistair Darling was today publishing an aviation White Paper as both opponents and supporters of a new Gatwick runway waited on tenterhooks.
The paper is expected to include extra runways at Birmingham and Stansted, Essex.
Yesterday opponents of a second runway at Gatwick said they believed they had won their battle. That is partly because of a legal agreement which prevents a new runway being built before 2019.
Airlines and BAA, the airport operator, wanted to see a third, short runway at Heathrow. They are likely to be disappointed by the Stansted decision.
The Treasury is thought to have favoured expansion at Heathrow and Gatwick above everything else, while airlines, trade unions and BAA see Heathrow expansion as the best option.
Mr Darling is likely to keep the Heathrow option open and back greater use of its existing runways in the meantime.
Plans for a new airport in the Thames Estuary at Cliffe, Kent, and for a new Midlands airport between Rugby and Coventry, were expected to be ruled out.
Over the next 30 years, demand for air travel in the UK is expected to triple from 180 million passengers a year now to 500 million in 2030.
Expansion opponents have insisted that forecasts of aviation growth have been grossly exaggerated by "biased" experts.
Tuesday December 16, 2003
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