The government supports a third runway at Heathrow, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced.
The chancellor said there had been “no progress in 80 years” and that a third runway was “badly needed”.
She said the airport “connects us to emerging markets all over the world” and its expansion would increase trade opportunities.
Ms Reeves said an expansion could create more than 100,000 jobs.
The debate around whether Europe’s busiest airport should expand has been circling over British politics for decades.
Ms Reeves‘s decision will likely put her at odds with Climate Secretary Ed Miliband, who has said airport expansions will not go ahead if they cannot meet climate targets.
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However, he said last week he would not resign if the government approved a third runway despite threatening to resign from Gordon Brown’s cabinet as climate change secretary in 2009 over the plans and in 2018 he said an expansion was “very likely” to make air pollution worse.
He has now said the government can meet both its growth and net zero missions together.
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