THE long-awaited go-ahead for Heathrow's third runaway has been welcomed by business leaders in Hampshire - on the condition that expansions to regional air services are not ignored.

After more than a year of uncertainty the government has decided to back the verdict of the Davies Commission ahead of other options including a new runway at Gatwick and an extension to Heathrow's existing runways.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling described it as a "momentous decision".

Heathrow,the world's second busiest airport, lies just 60 miles from Southampton and its proximity to this region is often used as a selling point for the area by businesses.

The Davies Commission predicted the Heathrow expansion would bring £60bn to the UK economy over the next 50 years and create 30,000 jobs in the south east outside of London.

Stewart Dunn, chief executive of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "We are pleased to see this commitment to the nation's infrastructure and hopefully it will keep business in the City and in the wider region, including Hampshire," said Mr Dunn.

However, he said a key to connectivity would be a proposed a new spur line from Woking to Heathrow which would mean rail passengers and freight could travel direct to the airport from Southampton.

He said that when building finally got underway at Heathrow "the opportunity in the supply chain for Hampshire firms will be immense."

Mr Dunn added that as a member of the British Chamber of Chambers, Hampshire supported a wider programme of airport expansions including Gatwick, Birmingham, Leeds Bradford and Newcastle.

This was echoed by Jeremy Blackburn, head of policy at RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) who said: “Government should also consider building additional airport capacity outside of London and across the UK in order to meet future demands.

"Many regional airports are already reaching operational capacity and if we are serious about the Midlands Engine, and Northern Powerhouse, we must spread capacity across multiple locations and allow the UK to reach its full potential.”

Southampton Airport issued a statement welcoming Heathrow announcement which it said sent "a positive signal to the world that the UK wants to continue to trade with all its trading groups in the future".

It added: "Southampton Airport also looks forward to the forthcoming publication of the Government’s Aviation policy framework which it hopes will create an equally positive signal to the broader aviation industry given that a new runway will take until the mid 2020’s to become operational.

"In particular Southampton Airport believes that the runway capacity deficit in advance of the new runway at Heathrow, will be most acute to the South and West of London and that this could impact the Solent and wider regional economy.

"As a result, regional airports such as Southampton Airport should be supported by Government to optimise their available capacity as well as improving surface access provision to deliver economic growth that will benefit everyone in this region.

The nation's largest regional airline, Flybe, which operates several services out of Southampton, also made the case for regional flights.

Flybe called on the Government to ensure some of the new Heathrow capacity would be reserved for regional operators.

In statement issued yesterday the airline said: "Flybe has been encouraged by Heathrow’s recently announced plans to support regional flights and wants to see these plans progressed.

"Without such flights, the UK regions will miss out on much-needed connectivity to the capital and to long-haul destinations via Heathrow."