Gatwick Airport’s new poll has revealed twice the number of councillors supporting Gatwick Airport expansion over Heathrow.
The airport said that the poll followed the comments of London MPs and Cabinet Ministers, Justine Greening and Vince Cable, and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, all of who supported the expansion of Gatwick.
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According to the YouGov poll, 40% of the 206 London councillors sampled for the poll chose Gatwick. While 21% supported the Heathrow expansion, only 13% picked the extention of Heathrow’s northern runway.
Gatwick further said that it had carried out a separate research involving Borough Councils which revealed that none out of the 32 London borough councils, formally or publically backed Heathrow expansion.
Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate said: "From the public to politicians, businesses to borough councils, it is clear the capital backs Gatwick over Heathrow in the expansion debate.
"Airport expansion is a huge opportunity to boost the economy and global connectivity of London but also presents a clear threat of more noise and pollution above the capital. Striking a balance is crucial and that is why London is throwing its support behind Gatwick.
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By GlobalData"Where Heathrow expansion means 130,000 more planes over Central London and further breaches of air quality, Gatwick would have a fraction of the impact, delivering the economic benefits the UK needs at an environmental cost it can afford."
Gatwick and Heathrow have been in direct competition with each other to get a government approval for expansion.
Currently, the Airports Commission is working on preparing recommendations for the government about the UK’s future air capacity.
Image: A Dreamliner taking off at London’s Gatwick Airport. Photo: courtesy of Gatwick Airport Limited.
