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Howard Davies will examine whether to build a new runway at Heathrow or a new airport to the East of London, amongst other options.
The committee will report after the next election, but will publish an interim report in 2013
David Cameron earlier urged cross-party support to help make progress.
The prime minister told MPs "difficult" issues of infrastructure must be tackled but he would not break his promise to rule out a third runway during the Parliament.
He was speaking after Mayor of London Boris Johnson called for Heathrow expansion to be permanently shelved.
The controversy over Heathrow's future intensified after Tuesday's cabinet reshuffle in which Justine Greening, a fierce opponent of a new runway, was moved to another job, to be replaced by Patrick McLoughlin.
Critics, including Mr Johnson, have suggested this will prepare the ground for a change of government policy.
Both the Conservatives and Lib Dems ruled out a third runway at Heathrow in their 2010 general election manifestos and the coalition agreement continues this commitment.
However, business leaders and some Tory MPs have argued that increased airport capacity is vital to dragging the UK out of recession.
At the first Prime Minister's Questions of the autumn, Mr Cameron was asked by Conservative Mark Garnier about the future of government aviation policy.
He replied: "These very large infrastructure projects are extremely difficult for individual governments to take and to deliver.
When the new cabinet sit around the top table in Downing Street this afternoon, it will be clear that the centre of gravity has moved to the right.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling will take a harder line than his predecessor Ken Clarke.
And the new Eurosceptic Environment Secretary Owen Paterson can be expected to resist EU regulations.
But the prime minister would argue that his promotions owe more to practicalities than politics - that the government now consists of ministers who have a track record of delivering policies, rather than just dreaming them up.
But at Prime Minister's Questions later, Labour will say a change in economic policy is far more important than any changes to the cabinet.
"What we need to do is build a process that hopefully has cross-party support so we can look carefully at this issue and deliver changes that will address the problems of capacity we will have in future years and address the issue of the hub status in the UK."
He said he was "hoping to make an announcement on this over the coming days" but warned progress will not be made "unless parties sign up to a process that can deliver".
Asked by Labour MP John McDonnell whether he would rule out sanctioning a new runway while he was prime minister, Mr Cameron said he would "not be breaking my manifesto pledge".
Mr Johnson, who favours building a new airport east of London, has called for the issue to be settled once and for all by ruling out a new runway beyond 2015 - the scheduled date of the next election.
"What we need to do now is to end the uncertainty over Heathrow and say 'No, folks, it is all right. The policy is as it has been, which is to say no to a new runway both now and in the future.'"
The BBC News Channel's chief political correspondent Norman Smith said Mr Johnson wanted to kill the idea of a third runway for ever and this was a "marked escalation" of the dispute within the party.
And Conservative MP for Richmond Park Zac Goldsmith, who has threatened to resign and trigger a by-election if the government does a U-turn, said ministers had "to get off the fence" over the issue.
"It is not fair to voters in constituencies like mine to keep them in a state of limbo. They need to know whether they (ministers) have changed their mind."
Questioned about a third runway during a visit to a school in east London, Deputy Prime Minister and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said: "My party's manifesto is against a third runway and the coalition agreement could not have been clearer: we have ruled out giving the go-ahead to a runway during this parliament. It will not happen during this parliament."
Labour's 2010 manifesto supported a third runway at Heathrow, but leader Ed Miliband later distanced himself from the policy, saying he had had "some very heated arguments" with predecessor Gordon Brown over the decision and had even considered resigning from the government.
Friends of the Earth's head of campaigns, Andrew Pendleton, said: "We don't need more airport capacity in the South East and London already serves more of the world's leading business centres than our European competitors.
"One of the biggest threats to the economy is climate change - airport expansion would undermine action to tackle it.
"The demands of the aviation industry are insatiable - if it's allowed to get its way, communities and the environment will be forced to pay the price."
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