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A new london airport to replace heathrow!
London is going to replace Heathrow with a new airport within a decade! Read the 2 news articles from Times Online and BBC respectively.
From Times Online
[[[September 21, 2008
‘Boris Island’ airport may replace Heathrow
The London mayor plans to shut down the city’s main airport and build a new four-runway hub in the Thames estuaryChris Gourlay and Dipesh Gadher
WHEN the Queen opened Heathrow’s £4.3 billion terminal building earlier this year, it was supposed to herald a new era in state-of-the-art travel.
Instead, the launch of terminal 5 rapidly descended into farce, with dozens of flight cancellations, enormous check-in queues and thousands of items of luggage mislaid.
The chaotic scenes in March served only to exacerbate Heathrow’s reputation for overcrowding and misery.
“The bottom line is that it’s a third-world airport,” said one former airline boss. “It’s a national disgrace.”
Now his officials are drawing up proposals to close it and replace it with a 24-hour airport located on an artificial island in the Thames estuary.
“If you look at what is going on in other countries around the world - in Hong Kong, in Washington - it’s not impossible to move the capital’s biggest airport,” Johnson has said.
It may at first sound implausible, but proposals for an airport in the Thames have endured for almost 40 years.
Johnson favours a four-runway hub off Sheppey in Kent, which could easily be expanded to six runways because of minimal planning constraints.
The airport would be connected to the high-speed Channel tunnel rail link to transport passengers into central London in about 35 minutes. And the Continent would be just a short train ride away in the opposite direction, cutting out the need for many shorthaul flights.
Officials at London’s city hall believe the airport could be built in as little as six years and ultimately envisage Heathrow being closed and turned into a high-tech business and residential development.
“I think it’s madness to expand any of the other airports when there is an obvious solution elsewhere,” said Kit Malthouse, one of Johnson’s deputies, who is overseeing the Thames airport project.
“We’re not proposing to switch the lights on at the new airport and switch the lights off at Heathrow, firing everyone overnight. This would be a phasing from one airport to the other. Over the space of three or four years, those [workers] that wanted to, could migrate.”
Johnson’s team have conducted a preliminary review and now plan a more detailed feasibility study, involving an engineering consultancy. Hong Kong’s island airport, which opened in 1998 with two runways, cost £10 billion.
Mayoral advisers recently outlined some of their plans to Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic airline. Sources close to Johnson say the carrier expressed an interest in the Thames project.
However, Virgin this weekend denied it was prepared to provide any financial support or move its fleet to the new hub.
The airline regards a new runway at Heathrow as a priority to alleviate congestion. “We will await the results of the study with interest,” said a Virgin spokesman.
Last week Zhang Mao, the deputy mayor of Beijing, indicated to Johnson that he would consider investing in infrastructure projects in London, including venues for the 2012 Games. Johnson will discuss financing of the Thames estuary airport when Zhang travels to the capital next month.
Malthouse believes the most sensible location for a new airport is about two miles north of the Isle of Sheppey where the estuary is only 10ft-13ft deep. An artificial island could be created from landfill. It would be connected to the mainland by a railway bridge and ferry terminals would link it to both Kent and Essex.
Aircraft would descend over the North Sea instead of disturbing residential areas in the approach to Heathrow.
“You would have no problems with expansion or noise,” said Malthouse. “You could run a 24-hour airport.”
The government is expected to decide by the end of the year whether to allow a controversial third runway to be built at Heathrow, at a cost of up to £13 billion.
Internal Department for Transport documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show there is a “high risk” that a new runway would breach noise and air quality targets set by the European Union. ]]]
From BBC
[[[ Mayor considers 'island airport'
Operator BAA says Heathrow airport is "jam-packed"
An airport on an artificial island in the Thames estuary could be the answer to the overcrowding at Heathrow, London's mayor has suggested.
Boris Johnson believes the island solution could put an end to the need for a third runway at Heathrow.
Officials are looking at plans to reduce air traffic congestion at Heathrow and focus on a 24-hour airport off the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.
Heathrow handles more than 500,000 take-offs and landings a year.
In his transport manifesto unveiled during the mayoral elections Mr Johnson had spoken about a possible new airport in the Thames estuary.
Mr Johnson said: "You can't endlessly expand Heathrow in the suburbs of west London and entrench what was really a planning error of decades ago.
"I'm looking at all the airports around the perimeter including the option of a new site somewhere in the Thames estuary, that's something I definitely think we should look at.
"What we are looking at is a way of solving this great capital's aviation needs without endlessly expanding our number one international airport," he added.
A spokesperson for the mayor said Mr Johnson "wants to undertake a study to establish the feasibility of the idea once and for all and is in the process of examining the best way to take the study forward."
Mr Johnson added that the environmental impact on the proposed site will also be considered while judging the site's viability.
Environmentally damaging
Grahame Madge, a spokesperson for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said Thames estuary is the feeding ground for "tens of thousands" of migrating birds.
"Any development proposed in an area that is internationally important for wildlife is a major issue.
"We would need to look at the proposals in detail, but it would be hard to see how you could locate an airport in an area so vital for birds without it being environmentally damaging."
John Stewart, from Hacan (Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise) which opposes Heathrow's expansion, said: "The market in the South East couldn't support two major hub airports.
"It would need to be either Heathrow or an off-shore airport. But who is going to invest in a new airport with Heathrow just the other side of London?"
By the end of this year the government is due to make a decision on the proposed expansion of Heathrow.
Operator BAA has been stressing the need for expansion saying that Heathrow is "jam-packed" and needs a third runway to remain competitive globally.
But environmentalists, residents groups and councils opposing the move say the proposed expansion would have a serious impact on hundreds of thousands of homes in the area in terms of air quality and noise levels. ]]]
Don't you think this is good news? It is to the residents living around Heathrow, and for some travellers as the airport will be directly connected to the Eurostar train line so that 1) no need to build yet another airport express train line to transport passengers rapidly as Eurostar would already be doing that (unless the authorities want to extend the cheaper Underground to this airport), and 2) people can connect direct to Continental Europe without passing through London.
From Times Online
[[[September 21, 2008
‘Boris Island’ airport may replace Heathrow
The London mayor plans to shut down the city’s main airport and build a new four-runway hub in the Thames estuaryChris Gourlay and Dipesh Gadher
WHEN the Queen opened Heathrow’s £4.3 billion terminal building earlier this year, it was supposed to herald a new era in state-of-the-art travel.
Instead, the launch of terminal 5 rapidly descended into farce, with dozens of flight cancellations, enormous check-in queues and thousands of items of luggage mislaid.
The chaotic scenes in March served only to exacerbate Heathrow’s reputation for overcrowding and misery.
“The bottom line is that it’s a third-world airport,” said one former airline boss. “It’s a national disgrace.”
Now his officials are drawing up proposals to close it and replace it with a 24-hour airport located on an artificial island in the Thames estuary.
“If you look at what is going on in other countries around the world - in Hong Kong, in Washington - it’s not impossible to move the capital’s biggest airport,” Johnson has said.
It may at first sound implausible, but proposals for an airport in the Thames have endured for almost 40 years.
Johnson favours a four-runway hub off Sheppey in Kent, which could easily be expanded to six runways because of minimal planning constraints.
The airport would be connected to the high-speed Channel tunnel rail link to transport passengers into central London in about 35 minutes. And the Continent would be just a short train ride away in the opposite direction, cutting out the need for many shorthaul flights.
Officials at London’s city hall believe the airport could be built in as little as six years and ultimately envisage Heathrow being closed and turned into a high-tech business and residential development.
“I think it’s madness to expand any of the other airports when there is an obvious solution elsewhere,” said Kit Malthouse, one of Johnson’s deputies, who is overseeing the Thames airport project.
“We’re not proposing to switch the lights on at the new airport and switch the lights off at Heathrow, firing everyone overnight. This would be a phasing from one airport to the other. Over the space of three or four years, those [workers] that wanted to, could migrate.”
Johnson’s team have conducted a preliminary review and now plan a more detailed feasibility study, involving an engineering consultancy. Hong Kong’s island airport, which opened in 1998 with two runways, cost £10 billion.
Mayoral advisers recently outlined some of their plans to Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic airline. Sources close to Johnson say the carrier expressed an interest in the Thames project.
However, Virgin this weekend denied it was prepared to provide any financial support or move its fleet to the new hub.
The airline regards a new runway at Heathrow as a priority to alleviate congestion. “We will await the results of the study with interest,” said a Virgin spokesman.
Last week Zhang Mao, the deputy mayor of Beijing, indicated to Johnson that he would consider investing in infrastructure projects in London, including venues for the 2012 Games. Johnson will discuss financing of the Thames estuary airport when Zhang travels to the capital next month.
Malthouse believes the most sensible location for a new airport is about two miles north of the Isle of Sheppey where the estuary is only 10ft-13ft deep. An artificial island could be created from landfill. It would be connected to the mainland by a railway bridge and ferry terminals would link it to both Kent and Essex.
Aircraft would descend over the North Sea instead of disturbing residential areas in the approach to Heathrow.
“You would have no problems with expansion or noise,” said Malthouse. “You could run a 24-hour airport.”
The government is expected to decide by the end of the year whether to allow a controversial third runway to be built at Heathrow, at a cost of up to £13 billion.
Internal Department for Transport documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show there is a “high risk” that a new runway would breach noise and air quality targets set by the European Union. ]]]
From BBC
[[[ Mayor considers 'island airport'
Operator BAA says Heathrow airport is "jam-packed"
An airport on an artificial island in the Thames estuary could be the answer to the overcrowding at Heathrow, London's mayor has suggested.
Boris Johnson believes the island solution could put an end to the need for a third runway at Heathrow.
Officials are looking at plans to reduce air traffic congestion at Heathrow and focus on a 24-hour airport off the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.
Heathrow handles more than 500,000 take-offs and landings a year.
In his transport manifesto unveiled during the mayoral elections Mr Johnson had spoken about a possible new airport in the Thames estuary.
Mr Johnson said: "You can't endlessly expand Heathrow in the suburbs of west London and entrench what was really a planning error of decades ago.
"I'm looking at all the airports around the perimeter including the option of a new site somewhere in the Thames estuary, that's something I definitely think we should look at.
"What we are looking at is a way of solving this great capital's aviation needs without endlessly expanding our number one international airport," he added.
A spokesperson for the mayor said Mr Johnson "wants to undertake a study to establish the feasibility of the idea once and for all and is in the process of examining the best way to take the study forward."
Mr Johnson added that the environmental impact on the proposed site will also be considered while judging the site's viability.
Environmentally damaging
Grahame Madge, a spokesperson for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said Thames estuary is the feeding ground for "tens of thousands" of migrating birds.
"Any development proposed in an area that is internationally important for wildlife is a major issue.
"We would need to look at the proposals in detail, but it would be hard to see how you could locate an airport in an area so vital for birds without it being environmentally damaging."
John Stewart, from Hacan (Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise) which opposes Heathrow's expansion, said: "The market in the South East couldn't support two major hub airports.
"It would need to be either Heathrow or an off-shore airport. But who is going to invest in a new airport with Heathrow just the other side of London?"
By the end of this year the government is due to make a decision on the proposed expansion of Heathrow.
Operator BAA has been stressing the need for expansion saying that Heathrow is "jam-packed" and needs a third runway to remain competitive globally.
But environmentalists, residents groups and councils opposing the move say the proposed expansion would have a serious impact on hundreds of thousands of homes in the area in terms of air quality and noise levels. ]]]
Don't you think this is good news? It is to the residents living around Heathrow, and for some travellers as the airport will be directly connected to the Eurostar train line so that 1) no need to build yet another airport express train line to transport passengers rapidly as Eurostar would already be doing that (unless the authorities want to extend the cheaper Underground to this airport), and 2) people can connect direct to Continental Europe without passing through London.
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