One of the UK's most famous entrepreneurs has urged the government to be brave when making decisions on airport capacity in Britain.

Virgin chief Richard Branson told Travel Weekly that creating new runways can help to drag the country out of recession.

Many of the UK's main airports are already operating at full capacity and international aviation hubs in other countries appear to be leaving the likes of Heathrow behind.

Mr Branson said that this inaction is holding the nation back and he has been calling for more airport space for the last 30 years.

"We should get at least two (additional runways) built at Heathrow as fast as possible, while thinking about other options to the west and east," he was quoted as saying.

The businessman added that new runways could be funded by private organisations, so the government does not have to worry about the cost implications.

A final decision on airport capacity is not expected to be made until 2015 at the earliest.