IN recent weeks, I have been speaking at a number of events focused on the important debate about airport capacity, including a conference organised by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) and a Runways UK event held at the Guildhall in the City of London.

Most recently, I chaired a discussion in Parliament with businesses from west London and the Thames Valley which was sponsored by Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Medway Council and Kent Council.

These debates have focused on where best to locate a new runway to help alleviate the lack of capacity available in the South East of England.

According to the Department for Transport’s own figures, all airports in the South East of England will be full by around 2030.

Given that any proposed new runways are likely to take a decade to get planning approval and then to be built, this deadline is uncomfortably close.

In terms of expanding airport capacity I do think that the Gatwick versus Heathrow discussion is a false choice.

The two airports tend to serve different markets. Heathrow is primarily a hub airport with significant cargo capacity and Gatwick is a point-to-point airport that serves a large number of holiday destinations.

Ultimately, both Gatwick and Heathrow should be allowed to expand.

Heathrow is essentially full already and Gatwick is currently operating at more than 85% of capacity and is full at peak times.

Expanding both airports could create further economic growth by adding direct connections to cities in emerging markets.

A third runway at Heathrow has the support of an eclectic set of organisations from across the country including the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, the North East Chamber of Commerce, Newcastle International Airport, the Institute of Directors, Unite the Union and the Trade Union Congress.

The reason I am pursuing this issue so persistently is because it is vital to our local area’s future economic prosperity.

Currently, more than 200 of the UK’s top 300 global businesses are located within a 25-mile radius of Heathrow.

This means more jobs, more investment and higher growth potential in Reading and the wider Thames Valley.

Any decision that leads to the downgrading of Heathrow would put the future location of these companies into question and would lead to a decline in local jobs.

I will continue to put the case for maintaining a strong Heathrow at the heart of transport infrastructure.