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By Sarah Young
LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - The British government is stillon course to make a decision this summer on where to build a newLondon airport runway, a spokeswoman said, despite the politicalchaos caused by the Brexit vote.
After Prime Minister David Cameron's announcement that hewill resign by October, a group of business leaders wrote aletter to a newspaper on Monday calling for the long-awaitedinvestment decision to be taken "as a matter of urgency".
Cameron's government has taken four years to decide where tobuild a new runway, with Heathrow seen as the front-runner overrival Gatwick, and a final decision had been due in weeks.
Former London mayor Boris Johnson, the favourite to succeedCameron as prime minister, has opposed expansion at Heathrow andonce said he would lie down in front of the bulldozers to stop athird runway being built there.
Past attempts to expand Heathrow, located close todensely-populated west London, have been hampered by localopposition, due to worries about increased noise and airpollution.
The chief executive of Gatwick, located south of the city ina less populated area, is due to say in a speech that Brexit hasstrengthened his argument that it would be easier and moreeffective to build the runway there.
"It is now clearer than ever that only Gatwick can deliverthe new runway Britain needs," Gatwick Chief Executive StewartWingate will tell a conference on Tuesday, according to extractsof the speech provided by the airport to media.
"In these uncertain times that means Gatwick can give thecountry certainty of delivery. Britain cannot afford yet moredelay."
A spokesman for Heathrow said his airport was "the UK'sgateway to global markets". It released research on Sunday whichshowed that two-thirds of 150 lawmakers polled supportedbuilding the new runway there.
Transport Minister Patrick McLoughlin has said that thisdecision will be made before the end of July.
A spokeswoman for Cameron said on Monday that there was nochange in the timetable, and that the government would announceits decision once it had seen the results of furtherenvironmental assessments.
On Monday, fifty business leaders including the CEOs ofbroker ICAP, real estate company Land Securities and insurer Legal & General published a letterin the Times saying the Brexit vote made the need for a newrunway more pressing given that Britain would need to step-uptrade with economies beyond the EU. (Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
