A PROBE assessing rival airport expansion schemes must back the right horse and choose Gatwick, a North-East born official has said.

Stewart Wingate, Gatwick’s chief executive, said a second runway at the Sussex site would deliver substantially more for the UK than developing Heathrow.

The Government-appointed Airports Commission will make its recommendation later this year, with a third runway at Heathrow, and lengthening an existing runway at the airport, also on its agenda.

Bosses at Newcastle Airport, coupled with analysis from PWC, have backed Heathrow’s plans, saying it will bring better economic benefits for the North-East.

But Mr Wingate, who was born in Bishop Auckland, said Gatwick’s plans were exceptionally strong, adding Heathrow’s proposals would cost the taxpayer billions of pounds and take longer to build.

He told The Northern Echo: “This is a really important choice for this region and the UK as a whole.

“People in the North-East need connectivity and we have the deliverable solution.

“We are a better alternative and are not looking for a penny of taxpayers’ money; we can fully privately finance it.

“We can also do it at least five years faster; it could be delivered by 2025.

“It will provide 120,000 jobs, bring £100m of economic benefits, create true competition for Heathrow and reduce the monopoly.

“From a North-East perspective, you have to back the right horse, and the right horse is one that will bring increased connectivity.”

Mr Wingate, a first-class electrical and electronic engineering graduate, was an apprentice at South West Durham Training, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, before working at Black and Decker, in Spennymoor.

He also held roles as customer services director at Glasgow Airport and chief executive at Budapest Airport, but said his knowledge of the North-East meant he knew Gatwick’s case was far better for the region.

He added: “In the past, the only option that was trotted around was Heathrow, but why?

“Heathrow has been pushing its case for years, and has received support.

“But, without a shadow of a doubt, that support has slowed down because of the environmental concerns.

“As it’s based over to the west of London, Heathrow acutely affects about 850,000 people with noise.

“If you think that Darlington’s population is about 100,000, Heathrow impacts on nearly ten times that number.

“However, we are south of the city and impact on only about three per cent of the population.”

British Airways’ flights to Heathrow carry close to 500,000 passengers a year from Newcastle, making it the region’s busiest service, and it is understood half of those people use the service to connect to another European or worldwide destination.

For that reason, and a number of others, John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow’s chief executive, said the site was the best option.

Mr Holland-Kaye pointed towards the region’s exports and position as the only area in the UK to have a trade surplus, which he said would be strengthened by a larger Heathrow.

He said: “Unless we fight back with expansion of Heathrow, the North-East will lose out.

“Throughout the 1970s to the 1990s, Heathrow had more flights to Japan and Korea than any other airport, but because we are full we have to turn away airlines.

“France has more flights to China than we have, and has more exports and tourists from mainland China.

“More than a quarter of exports go through Heathrow, so to overtake the French, we need to expand.

“Heathrow is a solution for all of the UK.

“But expansion will make the UK, and the North-East, the best connected place in the world to do business.

“It will deliver more long-haul destinations, going up from 80 to 120, help bring £200bn to the British economy and provide 180,000 jobs, including thousands in the North-East.

“It will help support businesses who are exporting, help them get more work, and help get tourists and students to the region to spend their money.

“The North-East has been such an important place for Japanese and Korean companies because it is easy to get to.

“No other country in Europe has that level of connectivity.

“Expansion would give us a big competitive edge.”