London Mayor makes fresh push for new hub airport
22.11.11
London mayor Boris Johnson has made a fresh push for a new London hub airport, outlining the economic case for the development. In a speech to business leaders and representatives of the aviation industry, he said the constrictions of Heathrow Airport were becoming ‘ever more apparent and ever more damaging’ and warned that to do nothing would lead to ‘economic stagnation’.
The government has ruled out expansion of London's existing airports, and Mr Johnson has lobbied for a new hub airport in the Thames Estuary, the so-called 'Boris Island' airport. A £40bn - £50bn plan for a four runway airport in the Thames Estuary with fast links to London has been put forward to increase flight capacity in the South- East without expanding Heathrow.
Mr Johnson said yesterday: ‘There's no doubt that to do nothing will lead to economic stagnation. The government must now grasp the nettle and begin serious plans for the multi-runway solution. As the world economy changes and global power shifts to the East, the constrictions of London's hub airport are becoming ever more apparent and ever more damaging.’
He added that in the next 15 years 75 million Chinese households would enter the middle classes - a ‘phenomenal market’. But, he said, their business is ‘already being snaffled up by our friends on the continent who chortle at our continued inertia’. He said developing the Thames Estuary airport should be viewed as a pillar in the government's plan for economic growth.
Passenger demand for London's airports is forecast to increase from 140 million passengers a year in 2010 to 400 million passengers a year by 2050, according to a report by the Greater London Authority. But when the plan to build a facility between the Essex and Kent coasts was debated in October, concerns were raised about damage to the environment.
Speaking at a meeting of business leaders on Monday Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged the possibility of a new international airport. He said: ‘We made a promise about not building a third runway at Heathrow but we have to look at aviation to work out how we can make ourselves more connected.'
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