Biggin Hill Airport celebrated after a judicial review they lodged found in their favour.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will now decide if RAF Northolt is safe for civilian flights using government owned military aerodromes in the "landmark ruling."

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Secretary of State were informed of the decision which could impact around 12,000 civilians flights a year at the site.

RAF Northolt maintained they did not need to meet costly civilian CAA regulations, only military ones.

It was argued this gave RAF Northolt an unfair advantage over smaller private airports which do have to meet such standards.

Will Curtis, managing director of Biggin Hill Airport, said: "RAF Northolt evidently believed it was entitled to bypass many internationally accepted aviation safety measures – measures that civil airports such as ours are required to maintain.

"Lower safety standards at military aerodromes are unacceptable, not only for those in the aviation industry, but also for passengers and those in the surrounding community on the ground."

Biggin Hill Airport jointly lodged the review with London Oxford Airport.