Britain should build a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport, a government-appointed commission into the country's airport capacity said in a report.
After a three-year study, the Airports Commission selected a new runway at Heathrow over two other shortlisted options.
It argued that it offered Britain the best way to add "urgently required" long-haul routes to new markets and boost the economy.
"Heathrow provides the greatest benefits for business passengers, freight operators and the broader economy," the commission's chairman, Howard Davies, said today.
It is now up to the UK government to decide whether to accept the Heathrow option that prime minister David Cameron, in 2009, said would not happen under his watch, "no ifs, no buts".
Today Mr Cameron said he would take a decision by the end of this year on how London's airport capacity will be expanded and would study the recommendation to build a third runway at Heathrow.
"A decision will made before the end of the year," he told the British parliament. "It is important now that there is a very detailed report that we study and are very clear about the legal position. If we say anything now before studying the report, we will endanger whatever decision is made."
The Heathrow recommendation was accompanied by a package of measures to limit the noise and environmental impact of a new runway, in an attempt to allay concerns that have prompted protest and political division.
UK lawmakers broadly agree that southeast England needs a new runway to remain economically competitive, but building one near densely-populated West London is a politically toxic issue.
A previous expansion plan was scrapped in 2010, but the new proposal was described by the Airports Commission as "fundamentally different", citing its more westerly location and accompanying conditions to ban night flights and a government pledge not to add more runways later.
Businesses and airlines had largely favoured the expansion of Britain's busiest airport Heathrow, which is operating at 98% capacity, over Gatwick.
Britain is already falling behind European rivals, argue businesses. Heathrow has two runways and Gatwick one, compared with four at Charles de Gaulle in Paris and six at Amsterdam's Schiphol.
Responding to the Commission's recommendation, Gatwick said it believed that it is still in the race.
"We are confident that when the government makes that decision they will choose Gatwick as the only deliverable option," Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate said in a statement.
A number of high-profile Conservative politicians, including Mayor of London Boris Johnson, have opposed an additional runway at Heathrow.
Johnson called the Commission's recommendation"disappointing", adding that a thirdrunway at Heathrow would "never" be built.
Heathrow has estimated that building could start in 2020 and the new runway would be ready in 2025, but that could be held up by the government's decision and tough planning laws.
Heathrow's largest shareholder is Spanish infrastructure firm Ferrovial. Other partners include Qatar Holding, China Investment Corp and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp.
