Heathrow says expansion more important than ever after EU vote

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - Heathrow Airport said the vote to leave the European Union made it more important than ever that Britain's leading airport should be allowed to expand to boost trade links with countries around the world.

Britain has spent years pondering whether to expand Heathrow or its rival Gatwick to provide additional capacity in the south east and a decision from the new government of Theresa May is expected in the coming months.

Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport and operating at close to full capacity, has been campaigning to build an extra runway but a decision has been delayed by successive governments worried about pollution and local opposition.

"Now Britain needs a positive post-Brexit plan and only Heathrow expansion will help Britain to be one of the world's leading trading nations - connecting all of Britain to global growth," Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye said in a statement.

The group said while last month's EU referendum result may create some short-term economic uncertainty, it was resilient enough to cope.

Publishing results for the first half of the year to June 30, Heathrow said 35.7 million passengers had used the airport, helping core earnings rise by 4.4 percent to 781 million pounds ($1 billion).

"In an uncertain economic environment, a 16 billion pounds privately funded infrastructure investment will create up to 180,000 jobs and 211 billion pounds of growth across the UK," it said. ($1 = 0.7549 pounds) (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)