Glasgow’s economy will get a boost from a new runway at London’s Heathrow Airport, according to business leaders.

Today's decision by the Airports Commission to green light the plan was welcomed by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Glasgow Airport.

Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: “As the UK’s main hub airport, access to London Heathrow offers the greatest number and highest frequency of international connections for travellers.

“Glasgow Chamber of Commerce prioritises aviation connectivity as a key enabler of economic growth in the city facilitating trade, attracting investment and enabling tourism, which will be boosted by the development of additional runway capacity in London.

“Political leadership is now required to ensure the proposals are delivered effectively.”

The Airports Commission spent three years investigating whether there should be a new runway at Heathrow, an expansion of one of the airport's current runways or a new runway at Gatwick.

Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport, also welcomed the findings.

She said: “The ability of Scotland to maintain and increase its global competitiveness is dependent on having air links with established and emerging markets and Heathrow plays a hugely important role in facilitating this.

“Glasgow Airport will actively seek to secure direct links with hub airports throughout Europe and beyond. However, Scotland’s population is of a size which means it can only ever sustain a certain number of direct flights.

“It is for this reason we support the expansion of Heathrow, however, an expanded Heathrow must deliver further access for Glasgow and Scotland. We would call on the UK Government to act swiftly and implement the findings of the Airports Commission.”