In an open letter to the Prime Minster, Coast to Capital LEP chair Tim Wates, has urged David Cameron to go for a new runway at Gatwick which he believes is vital for the continued economic growth of the region and could generate up to 22,000 jobs.
Following the release of the Airports Commission's final report in July, the Government is now reviewing and consulting ministers before any final decision is made.
Before that decision, Coast to Capital, the Local Enterprise Partnership which covers West Sussex, Brighton & Hove, Lewes, Croydon and the Gatwick Diamond, wanted to highlight to the Prime Minister why expansion at Gatwick Airport is so important.
Tim Wates, explained: "Gatwick Airport is the largest employer in our region and importantly, generates a pronounced economic stimulus to the area and provides businesses with much needed connectivity to the international trading destinations that are so important to the types of enterprise that we are trying to attract and grow here.
"A second runway at Gatwick will accelerate the development of a new growth corridor in the south east of England, stretching from London to the south coast, supported by a thriving world-class airport.
"Establishing a second such corridor offers the benefit of spreading the local advantages of aviation capacity across the whole of the south-east, rather than reinforcing a concentration that threatens to become overheated around Heathrow."
Mr Wates concluded by saying: "It would be a very retrograde step for the nation to concentrate all our long haul travel connections at a single location in Heathrow, and it would be a particular disadvantage to businesses across our regions, and indeed across much of the east of the country. It's also clear that the costs associated with expansion at Gatwick (which are half those at Heathrow) are likely to have a much better outcome for the price of travel for business passengers."
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