Boris Johnson is criticised for backing report which calls for new hub airport in the south-east despite his avowed concern about climate change
The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today backed a report calling for a brand new hub airport in the south-east to ensure that London retains its position as "the heartbeat of global business".
The Conservative mayor released the report to coincide with a seminar of business leaders held today which is designed to kickstart the debate on the role aviation has to play in the country's economic future.
Today's report, overseen by Transport for London's deputy chairman, Daniel Moylan, warns that the UK economy would suffer unless a new hub airport was created in south-east England.
Campaigners point out the call is at odds with the current government's moratorium on airport expansion and with his own avowed concern regarding climate change. While the coalition government has ruled out new runways in south-east England, Johnson has long favoured a new airport in the Thames estuary.
Today's report, which does not specify a particular site for a new airport, sparked calls for Johnson to "come clean" on whether he still has his heart set on this option or is moving away from the idea.
The report points out that in terms of destinations served by worldwide international airports, Heathrow had fallen from second in 1990 to seventh in 2010, and the number of destinations that can be directly accessed from Heathrow was now 157 compared with 224 from Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport and 235 from Frankfurt.
It said that this showed that London's only hub airport was losing out to other European airports, which if sustained could have long-term damaging effects for the economies of London and the UK.
The report also claims that an additional 85 million passengers a year or 564,000 annual flights could be generated at London's airports within the environmental targets the government has adopted.
It added that runway utilisation at Heathrow and Gatwick airports was operating at approximately 99%. This was causing delays and reliability problems. Heathrow is handling up to 75,000 more passengers a day than it was built for.
Runway utilisation was typically 70-75% at other major European hub airports.
"For London to retain its position as the heartbeat of global business, we need aviation links that will allow us to compete with our rivals," said Johnson.
He added: "The capital's airports are full, our runways are rammed and we risk losing jobs to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Madrid or other European cities should we fail to act.
"No other city even approaches the volume of passengers handled at London's airports but we need to start planning for a brand new airport that can help meet the ever-increasing demand for aviation and act as a hub, particularly to the rest of the UK."
But Johnson reiterated this cannot be at any cost and reaffirmed his opposition to expansion of Heathrow.
Moylan said: "Extra capacity at a hub airport is crucial if we are to support the rebalancing of the UK economy, which this government seeks, while remaining consistent with the mayor's goals of improving the quality of life of all Londoners and reducing transport's contribution to climate change."
The dossier does not specify a particular site for a new airport but another Johnson-commissioned report later this year will consider a range of locations for new airport capacity.
This will include options for a new airport which could be in the Thames estuary, dubbed "Boris Island" – which has been Johnson's strong preference up until now – as well as consideration of existing sites with the exception of Heathrow.
John Stewart, chairman of anti-Heathrow expansion group HACAN ClearSkies, said: "The mayor owes it to the people of London and the south-east to come clean on whether he still supports a Thames estuary airport wholeheartedly or if this is one of the many options that he's floating."
London assembly Green party member Darren Johnson said: "The mayor needs to give up his dead duck plans for a new airport. For a mayor who claims to be concerned about climate change, building a new airport is the last thing he should be considering.
"There has been significant opposition to this idea from local people, politicians and from environmental campaigners. The mayor would better represent Londoners' interests by pushing for investment in alternatives to aviation, such as improved and more affordable rail services."
Other detractors include Rodney Chambers, the Tory leader of Medway council in Kent, who described Johnson's hopes for a Thames estuary airport plan as "pie in the sky".
"It has already been rejected by the government and the aviation industry – with nine out of 10 air carriers saying they oppose the scheme," said Chambers.
"Yet, despite this, the mayor seems intent on carrying on regardless, wasting public money to try and get support for his project."
A Department for Transport spokesman said of today's report: "We welcome the mayor's input and his suggestions will be considered alongside the many other contributions to the debate about our future aviation strategy.
"However, we have made clear that we do not support the construction of additional runways at Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted. That is why we are working with interested parties to develop a new framework for aviation which is more sustainable but still supports economic growth."
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