Boris Johnson has vowed to keep fighting for a Thames Estuary airport after the Airports Commission decided not to add the Mayor’s preferred scheme to a shortlist of options for increasing aviation capacity by 2030.

London’s Mayor said the Thames Estuary option remains the only credible solution. “Any process that fails to include it renders itself pretty much irrelevant and I’m absolutely certain that it is the option that will eventually be chosen,” he said.

“In one myopic stroke the Airports Commission has set the debate back by half a century,” the Mayor continued. “Gatwick is not a long term solution and (commission chairman) Howard Davies must explain to the people of London how he can possibly envisage that an expansion of Heathrow, which would create unbelievable levels of noise, blight and pollution is a better idea than a new airport to the east of London.”

The Commission had spent eight months conducting further study into the feasibility of the Thames Estuary option and concluded that substantial disadvantages collectively outweigh its potential benefits. Commission chairman Sir Howard Davies said: “We are not persuaded that a very large airport in the Thames Estuary is the right answer to London’s and the UK’s connectivity needs.

“There are serious doubts about the delivery and operation of a very large hub airport in the estuary. The economic disruption would be huge and there are environmental hurdles which it may prove impossible or very time consuming to surmount. Even the least ambitious version of the scheme would cost £70Bn to £90Bn with much greater public expenditure involved than in other options,” he continued.

“There will be those who argue that the Commission lacks ambition and imagination. We are ambitious for the right solution. We need to focus on solutions which are deliverable, affordable and set the right balance for the future of aviation in the UK.”

The Commission will now continue to appraise three shortlisted proposals which made the shortlist in December last year: two options for increasing runway capacity at Heathrow and one for expanding Gatwick.

Gatwick airport’s chief executive Stewart Wingate welcomed the Commission’s decision. He said: “This is an important juncture in the aviation debate because now Britain’s choice is clear: expand Gatwick and support genuine competition or expand Heathrow and return to the state monopoly of the past.”

Heathrow airport’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “We have always agreed with the Mayor that Britain needs a successful hub airport to compete in the global race for jobs and growth. We would like to work with the Mayor to deliver Heathrow expansion in a way that benefits the whole country.”

(Photo: Greater London Authority)

To return to the newsletter, please close this window.