Boris Johnson calls for Thames Estuary airport (From Echo)

Boris Johnson calls for Thames Estuary airport

7:00am Wednesday 13th August 2008 in

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LONDON mayor Boris Johnson has renewed his call for a new London airport to be built in the Thames Estuary.

Writing in a national newspaper, Mr Johnson commented on major delays and problems being experienced arriving at Gatwick.

He said: “With Gatwick full to bursting and Heathrow’s third runway already bitterly contested – and I bet it never gets built – it is ever more urgent that we investigate the possibility of a long-term solution in the form of a new and more eco-friendly international airport at a site in the Thames Estuary – of which you will be hearing a lot more in due course.”

An airport in the estuary was first proposed 40 years ago. The idea was backed by Edward Heath’s Conservative Government in the early Seventies only to be abandoned by Harold Wilson when Labour was elected in 1974.

Latest plans for an offshore airport have been put forward, as the Marinair project, by the Thames Estuary Airport Company headed by chairman Ronald Crocker.

It proposed high-speed access links to London through a four track tunnelled railway.

However, the company’s website does not say how much the scheme would cost and Mr Crocker could not be contacted for comment on the mayor’s support.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson’s office, who refused to be named, said: “The mayor has never made any secret of his opposition to a third runway at Heathrow and that the solution would be an airport in the estuary.

“Certainly there are no plans at the moment, but the mayor is anxious to ensure airport expansion has less impact on the people of London and is more eco-friendly.

“The issue is one which we shall be watching in the future.”