Davies Commission dumps 'Boris Island' proposal

The government-backed Davies Commission investigating how to expand UK airport capacity has rejected the Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s proposal for a new airport built in the Thames Estuary.

The decision leaves a two-horse race between building a third runway at Heathrow and a second runway at Gatwick.

Commission chairman Howard Davies concluded the Thames Estuary proposal had “substantial disadvantages that collectively outweigh its potential benefits” after conducting a “detailed further study into its feasibility”.

Davies said the huge cost, economic disruption and environmental concerns made the proposal, which was drawn up by Foster & Partners, unviable.

He added: “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.”

The decision is a blow for Foster & Partners and engineer Halcrow, which led Johnson’s project team for the Thames Estuary airport.

But Johnson hit back and said the three proposals now left on the table - to expand Heathrow and Gatwick airports - would never get approved by politicians.

He said: “In one myopic stroke the Airports Commission has set the debate back by half a century and consigned their work to the long list of vertically filed reports on aviation expansion that are gathering dust on a shelf in Whitehall.

“Gatwick is not a long term solution and 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 that he himself admits is visionary, and which would create the jobs and growth this country needs to remain competitive.”

Johnson said he will continue to make the case for a new airport and added: “It 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.”