The British government has given the go-ahead for a Stg£2.25 billion fifth terminal at London's Heathrow Airport.
Announcing the decision in the House of Commons this afternoon, British transport secretary Mr Stephen Byers said night-flight restrictions and a limit on daily aircraft movements were amongst the conditions for granting planning permission.
Terminal Five (T5) is expected to be operational by 2007 and is due to handle up to 30 million passengers a year, helping to create 6,500 jobs and safeguard 10,000 existing ones.
It will be built on a disused sewage works to the west of the airport but within its perimeter area.
The British Airports Authority (BAA), hopes the new terminal will be operational by 2007.
It could increase Heathrow's annual passenger numbers by more than 20 million.
BAA first applied for planning permission for the terminal, known as T5, 14 years ago. BAA says that T5, which will be able to cater for about 30 million travelers a year, will help the airport handle about 80-85 million passengers a year.
The new terminal will have links to the Tube's Piccadilly line and to the mainline Heathrow Express.
Meanwhile, the number of flights to the United States available to business travelers has been cut by about 17 per cent since September 11, according to airline timetable publisher OAG Worldwide.
The biggest cuts in services were from Paris Charles de Gaulle and London's Gatwick airports, where airlines cut departures back by 20 and 22 per cent respectively.
Amsterdam Schiphol lost 11 per cent of its US services and London Heathrow was down 11 per cent.