Political and business divisions over the building of a third runway at Heathrow deepened on Wednesday as Ruth Kelly, transport secretary, firmly backed the growth of the airport, subject to it meeting certain environmental conditions.

“I am convinced that without additional capacity Heathrow will be at a huge disadvantage ... I believe there is no substitute to increasing capacity,” Ms Kelly told a London conference.

The airport was “bursting at the seams” and was nearly 99 per cent full, she said.

“Fundamentally, no one should try to pretend it is possible to have a better Heathrow without facing up to the over-riding challenge of lack of runway capacity ... ... Read full article