Southeast could have new airport ‘in seven years’
A new airport on the Isle of Grain would take seven years to build, architects behind the scheme have told the BBC.
The hub airport, which is the brainchild of Stansted airport architect Norman Foster, is one of three schemes put forward for new airports in the southeast as alternatives to building a third runway at Heathrow.
Critics of the proposals have said that building a new airport in the Thames Estuary, off north Kent, could take decades but Huw Thomas from Foster and Partners told BBC Radio Kent it would take only seven.
Other plans for new airports in the southeast include a floating hub in the Thames designed by architects Gensier and another known as Boris Island after it was backed by the London mayor Boris Johnson.
Thomas said the advantage of Norman Foster’s proposal was that the site could be reached by sea from three sides. Speaking on BBC Radio Kent he said: "Just think about what you’ve got to do at Heathrow. You’ve got to move a motorway junction for the primary access. You’ve got to suppress the roads. You’ve got to demolish all of that infrastructure. You’ve got to reconfigure the whole of the airport in order to get to that third runway."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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