The Airports Commission has caused fresh controversy by proposing a new runway be built at Heathrow rather than Gatwick.

Its report says the west London airport is the best option for providing "urgently required" capacity.

Confused by what’s being recommended for Heathrow? Here are the key stats around it.

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  • The report estimates the total cost of the new runway to be £17.6 billion, with a further £5bn in new road and rail links.
  • Extending the existing runway is costed at £14.4bn, while a second runway at Gatwick is costed at £7.1bn.
  • Of the overall cost, £4.8bn would be spent on new terminal buildings and £3.9bn on redevelopment of land. Smaller costs include £0.9bn on the environment, £0.8bn on car parks and £0.3bn on runway materials.
  • Some 783 houses are expected to be demolished in the villages of Harmondsworth, Longford and Sipson. Other homes could also be lost. The report recommended that residents should be compensated at full market value plus 25 per cent and reasonable costs.
  • Adding a new runway to Gatwick is estimated to mean the demolition of around 168 houses.
  • The new runway is forecast to add around £147bn in growth to the economy by 2050.
  • An additional 59,000-77,000 jobs are forecast to be generated in the local area by 2030. This compares with 4,000-6,500 jobs by a second runway at Gatwick.
  • Capacity at Heathrow would increase by 220,000 flights a year to a total of 740,000. This compares with a total of 700,000 for the proposal to extend a runway at Heathrow, and 560,000 for a second runway at Gatwick.
  • Growth in air freight is forecast to increase by 2.6 per cent by 2030, rising to 4.9-5.1 per cent by 2060. This compares with a rise of 2.6 per cent by 2060 from a second runway at Gatwick.
  • The estimated space per passenger at the new facilities at Heathrow would be between 44 and 45 square metres. This compares with between 29 and 30 square metres at Gatwick.
  • The report also states that £1bn should be spent on compensating the community living near Heathrow from disruption caused by the construction and operation of a new runway.

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