Mayor of London sets out three possible locations for a new hub airport – none of them is Heathrow
UK's Mayor of London Boris Johnson outlined (15-Jul-2013) a detailed vision for "transforming London into the greatest economic powerhouse of the 21st century", including a new airport to complement the new seaport about to open in the Thames estuary. The Mayor noted that connectivity was essential to participation in the global economy and to ensuring that a city with a growing population could offer jobs and prosperity to its people. Following a peer-reviewed investigation carried out by Transport for London over the last year, Mr Johnson outlined the potential options for new aviation capacity, comprised three locations for a new airport:
- Enlarging Stansted airport;
- Building a new hub airport in the inner Thames Estuary;
- Building a new hub airport in the outer Thames Estuary.
Mr Johnson stated he would be submitting detailed proposals for all three sites to the Davies Commission later in the week. He also revealed the enormous potential economic benefits of building a new hub airport, which he confirmed would be able to support more than 375,000 new jobs by 2050 and add GBP742 billion to the value of goods and services produced in the UK. The Major also stated that "only a four runway hub airport would allow London to reach the emerging markets of the world". On the future for the Heathrow site, Mr Johnson explained that the site has the space and infrastructure to generate up to 100,000 new homes. He also explained, "While some workers at Heathrow would relocate to the new airport, many others would find work on a newly developed Heathrow". Transport for London will undertake detailed assessments of these three sites. [more - original PR - London Mayor] [more - original PR - Transport for London]
The Mayor of London: "Ambitious cities all over the world are already stealing a march on us and putting themselves in a position to eat London's breakfast, lunch and dinner by constructing mega airports that plug them directly into the global supply chains that we need to be part of. Those cities have moved heaven and earth to locate their airports away from their major centres of population, in areas where they have been able to build airports with four runways or more. For London and the wider UK to remain competitive we have to build an airport capable of emulating that scale of growth. Anyone who believes there would be the space to do that at Heathrow, which already blights the lives of hundreds of thousands of Londoners, is quite simply crackers," Boris Johnson. Source: Company statement, 15-Jul-2013.
The Mayor of London: "Heathrow can never solve our problems and our studies show that we're better off with a new site. 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 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," Daniel Moylan, chief adviser on aviation. Source: Company statement, 15-Jul-2013.