CEO says Gatwick bid is greener after Heathrow's Brexit claim

A new war of words has broken out between airport chiefs after the UK voted to leave the European Union.

Gatwick’s CEO Stewart Wingate will tell business chiefs ‘only Gatwick can balance the economy and the environment’ after Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye said only Heathrow could meet Britain’s needs for direct flights to non-European countries.

Mr Holland-Kaye on Friday (June 24) said: “We need the direct flights to all of the growing markets in the world - in Asia, North and South America. We know that only Heathrow can do that.”

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A Gatwick spokesman said Mr Wingate will tell business leaders that Brexit means ‘only Gatwick can deliver’ on Tuesday (June 28).

Mr Wingate’s speech at the National Infrastructure Forum annual conference will say: “It is now clearer than ever that only Gatwick can deliver the new runway Britain needs, to provide the direct connections to North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia that we all want, because only Gatwick can balance the economy and the environment.

“In these uncertain times that means Gatwick can give the country certainty of delivery. And Britain cannot afford yet more delay.

“We have pledged we can deliver by 2025, at a cost that everyone can afford, without public subsidy and at a fraction of the environmental impact of Heathrow. None of that has changed.

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“Momentum has been growing behind Gatwick over recent years. The time has now come for everyone to get behind a new runway so the country can get the economic boost that is more important than ever. And that can only mean Gatwick.”

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