Identifying connectivity as the key to prosperity within the 21st century, London Mayor Boris Johnson acknowledged the wider economic and regeneration potential of a new hub airport at a City Hall meeting today.
In his speech, Johnson recommended three optimal locations for the new airport: the Isle of Grain in north Kent; Stansted; or on an artificial island in the middle of the Thames estuary. These three suggestions come as a result of a year-long, independently peer-reviewed investigation by the Transport for London, which confirmed the inability of London’s current major airport, Heathrow, to meet demands by expanding.
More on London’s future hub airport after the break...
Daniel Moylan, the Mayor of London’s chief adviser on aviation, explained: “Heathrow can never solve our problems. [...] The immense noise, pollution and congestion that would result from expanding an airport located in the heart of our suburbs would potentially devastate the greatest city in the world. Whereas the three potential sites for a new hub airport portray a compelling vision for the infrastructure, the economy and the international competitiveness that London and the wider UK could benefit from if we take the clear opportunities that are in front of us.”
“A new airport,” he continued, “would be accompanied by world-class public transport connectivity, it would have the resilience to withstand the worst the UK’s weather has to offer; and it would have the capacity to save you from being stranded in a never ending spiral of aircraft over the suburbs."
Over the past few years, numerous proposals have been suggested, including Norman Foster’s Thames Estuary Airport and Beckett Rankine’s offshore proposal.
The Mayor is expected to submit detailed proposals for all three sites to the Davies Commission later in the week.
To read the press release issued by the Mayor of London earlier today in full, follow this link.
