Lord Foster Unveils Plans for New UK Airport
World-renowned architect Lord Foster has unveiled plans for a new UK airport, located 55 kilometres away from London in the Thames Estuary.
Despite the Government rejecting London Mayor Boris Johnson's suggestions that the Thames Estuary was a good option for a new air transport hub for the south east, Norman Foster – the architect responsible for both Stansted and Chep Lak Kok (Hong Kong) airports – has produced a plan for a new facility on the Isle of Grain. The new airport would be located on the Hoo Peninsula on the isle, and would feature four runways capable of processing 150 million travellers on cheap flights every year. This would allow it to handle around three times as many passengers as Heathrow.
High-speed rail links would be provided between the airport and central London, with an estimated journey time of 30 minutes. Rail services would also extend to Essex, Suffolk and the north of England, departing from what would become the UK’s largest train station underneath the airport.
Lord Foster’s designs were revealed in the same week that a third runway at Heathrow was ruled out by both the Government and the Labour Party. The Heathrow expansion plans were rejected despite warnings that the limited capacity of current airport facilities could stifle economic growth.
Lord Foster was quick to point out the benefits of his design, saying that the new airport would bring social, economic and environmental benefits to the country and also improve the lives of the millions of people who live in Heathrow's flight path. However, the new design is likely to face opposition from residents in Kent, who have already raised objections to Boris Johnson’s proposed Thames Estuary airport.
Travel Industry news posted by Jan Moys on 03 November 2011
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