LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron's government has shown a failure of leadership over a decision on airport expansion that could hurt the economy, Britain's biggest business lobby said on Tuesday.
Successive British governments have failed to agree where to build a new runway despite 25 years of political wrangling, with environmentalists and voters in affluent London holding sway over big business and politicians who see expansion as vital for economic growth.
Cameron had promised to give a final decision by the end of the year on a 23 billion-pound plan to build a third runway at Heathrow, Europe's busiest hub airport, but on Monday a person familiar with the process said that had been pushed back until 2016.
"Our economy is going to run out of airport capacity in the south by 2025," Carolyn Fairbairn, the director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), told BBC Radio.
"The effect on exports is going to be dramatic, a potential 5 billion (pounds) lost exports by 2030 if we don't act. It feels like a real failure of leadership. We need this decision to be taken quickly."
A government-appointed commission said in July it preferred the plan for a new runway at Heathrow over the extension of Heathrow's existing northern runway or building a second runway at London Gatwick.
Heathrow, which is operating at full capacity, says a new runway would add 100 billion pounds to the economy and more than 120,000 new jobs.
"We really need a decision on airport capacity, it's urgent and it's not optional," said Fairbairn.
A spokeswoman for Cameron said on Monday the prime minister would give a "clear direction" on whether to back a new runway at Heathrow by the end of this year.
