Gatwick has submitted plans for a second runway to the Airports Commission which it said could be built at “a fraction of the cost of expansion at Heathrow”.
The Sussex airport said the new runway would cost between £5 billion and £9 billion, and could be operational by 2025.
Stewart Wingate, Gatwick’s chief executive, said: “London is the best connected city in the world today because the UK's aviation industry is one of the most competitive and innovative.
“Our proposal to the Airports Commission builds on this foundation and would ensure that the UK has an airports policy which offers the additional capacity that Britain needs, improves the resilience of the airports system and, above all, can be delivered.
“Our evidence shows clearly that an additional runway at Gatwick would best serve the needs of all passengers, and give certainty to airlines, communities and businesses. It would deliver the connectivity the UK needs with lower environmental impacts, whilst spreading the economic benefits.
“A two-runway Gatwick, as part of a constellation of three m
ajor airports surrounding London, will also provide flexibility in an industry where the only constant is change.”
The Airports Commission, headed by Sir Howard Davies, will now draw up an interim report about the need for extra capacity and also a shortlist of potential options and sites.
This report is due to be published by the end of the year, although final recommendations will not be made until after the next general election in the summer of 2015.