Airports around the UK are set for continued growth, Alistair Darling has announced.

But plans for new airports at locations including Newport, Bristol and Rugby were rejected by the transport secretary.

In his statement to MPs, Darling said the government would focus on growth at existing regional airports.

Figures for 2001 show that of the 180 million air passengers in the UK, around 100 million used the South East airports.

But over the last decade growth in passenger numbers at regional airports has averaged around eight per cent a year, compared to about seven per cent in the South East hubs.

In Northern Ireland the transport secretary said both Belfast City and Belfast International airports would be considered for future growth, and the future of Derry airport should be considered in consultation with the Irish government.

In Wales, Cardiff is set to remain as the main airport.

There will be plans to improve transport access and a focus on aircraft maintenance in a bid to boost jobs.

There will be no airport built at Newport, with existing sites at Cardiff and Bristol seen as offering suitable alternatives.

Bristol is set for both runway and terminal extensions.

In Scotland it is thought that new capacity will be needed by around 2020.

Expansion will be favoured at Edinburgh and options will be kept open for a new runway at Glasgow though it is unlikely to be needed in the medium term.

There is no case for a new airport in central Scotland, Darling said.

In the north of England, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle airports will continue to expand.

And in the Midlands the option of a new airport near Rugby was rejected.

"The government believes we should make the best use of existing airport facilities... and Birmingham airport provides an important regional base for a number of airlines," the transport secretary said.

The existing airport at Birmingham is set for a new runway based on a proposal put forward by the airport operator that had been excluded from the consultation process.

"We consider, however, that noise impacts on the scale that could arise from the new runway must be addressed," said the white paper.

"We have concluded, therefore, that the growth of Birmingham International Airport should be subject to stringent limits on the area affected by aircraft noise, as an incentive to airlines to introduce the quietest suitable aircraft as quickly as is reasonably practicable."

There will be no second runway at East Midlands airport for the time being, but the option will be kept under review.

Another issue facing regional airports is the future of links to the South East.

With constraints on capacity at the London hubs, regional airports could increasingly find vital domestic links to the South East being squeezed out because of a lack of landing slots.

Darling said he would seek to encourage new internal services between regions, and gave his backing to new public services obligations "in well defined circumstances" to protect landing slots for flights to London from the regions.