British airports operator BAA is to spend �8.1bn over the next 11 years to cope with a forecast surge in passenger numbers.

The money is mainly earmarked for the construction of a new fifth terminal at Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport.

Cash is also being ploughed into Gatwick and Stansted, the capital's other main airports.

The firm shed no light, however, on the contentious question of whether new runways would be needed in order to accommodate the traffic boom.

BAA expects a 46% surge in passenger numbers over the next decade.

BAA's three London airports have just four runways between them, and many in the air travel industry and beyond have pushed for new ones to be constructed, a plan fiercely opposed by environmentalists and other lobby groups.