Boris Johnson makes his final case for a new Estuary airport

MAYOR of London Boris Johnson has made his final case for a new four-runway airport in the Thames Estuary, arguing that such a scheme could be built by 2029 and support 400,000 jobs across the country.

In his latest submission to the government’s airports commission, Johnson insisted the airport “faces no insuperable obstacles to its delivery”.

He also contends that this hub airport, designed by Foster + Partners, would permanently boost the UK’s GDP by 0.5 per cent a year, or £6.9bn at today’s prices.

The submission includes new analysis by Ernst & Young, which calculates that landing charges at the Estuary airport would be around 1.6 times the current fees at Heathrow, compared to the commission’s estimate of charges three times more expensive.

The commission, led by Sir Howard Davies, said last year that it needed more detail on the ambitious plan for the hub on the Isle of Grain in Kent before it could consider shortlisting the proposal. It has already narrowed down its choices to Gatwick and two runway options at Heathrow ahead of a final recommendation next year.