Not only is it on the wrong side of London, with the capital in the way for most UK air travelers, but also plans released by the architect appear to place it on top of Europe’s largest Liquefied Natural Gas containers, where 20 per cent of Britain’s gas supplies are delivered by super tanker annually.

In addition, the site would also be where a major UK power station is based.

Leader of Medway Council, in Kent, Cllr Rodney Chambers, said: “The plan to build an airport on the Isle of Grain is, quite possibly, the daftest in a long list of pie in the sky schemes that have been put forward for an airport.

“The Isle of Grain is home to one of the world’s largest Liquefied Natural Gas terminals, with a fifth of the UK’s gas supply offloaded by container ships and stored there. It is plainly obvious that aircraft and huge gas containers are a potentially lethal mix.

“In addition to this, the sunken American warship the SS Richard Montgomery is submerged just a few miles from the location and laden with high explosives, the London Array wind farm is being built nearby and the airport cuts through an area that is home to hundreds of thousands of migrating birds.

“We have looked at Lord Foster’s plan and he appears to want to place his fantasy Isle of Grain airport on top of the LNG plant and a power station. It beggars belief.

“I can only assume he has not actually left his offices and traveled from London to Medway to have a look before releasing this.”

Cllr Chambers added: “A huge new airport on or near the Thames Estuary is both unaffordable and unnecessary and the government and many airline industry giants have already said they do not support such a plan.

“In addition, a poll by ICM for Medway Council recently showed that 76 per cent of people across the country, and even 67 per cent of Londoners, are against a Thames estuary airport.

“An airport on or near the Thames Estuary is unnecessary and unaffordable and would cause a devastating impact to the hundreds of thousands of migrating birds there as well as the local environment.”

“Instead, we should look to using up capacity at existing airports, which is already government policy.

“For instance, Manston, in Kent, already has one of the longest runways in Europe and is close to the high speed rail link to London while Birmingham is near the proposed site for a second high speed train and says it aims to double capacity.”

Boris Johnson wants to close Heathrow and build a huge new £70billion hub airport on a man made island off the north Kent coast.

But a survey, carried out for Medway Council, shows that the Mayor of London is flying in the face of public opinion.

Eighty one per cent of people also say that £70 billion is “too much to spend on a new airport”, particularly with the financial difficulties the country faces.

And nearly nine out of 10 people say that instead of building a new airport we should support the government’s current aviation policy, which proposes to make airports ‘better not bigger’.

Instead, the 87 per cent of people who agree with this statement say that we should use the capacity already available at existing regional airports. These include Birmingham – which wants to double its flights – and Manston, in Kent, which is next to Britain’s first ever high-speed rail link into London.

The survey follows years of campaigning by the mayor to get the government to agree to build a new airport in the Thames Estuary.

He has already published two reports into the feasibility and need for a Thames Estuary airport. And a further one is due to report back imminently.

Medway Council in Kent have run a joint campaign since 2009 with Kent County Council, backed by the RSPB, against the Thames Estuary airport – which they argue is undeliverable, unaffordable and unnecessary.

The Leader of Medway Council Cllr, Rodney Chambers, said:

“This national survey shows that Boris Johnson is flying in the face of public opinion with his plan for an estuary airport. It is a proposal that has already been dismissed by the airline industry and by the government and this poll makes clear that no one at all sees it as a serious option.

“A Thames Estuary airport would blight huge parts of Kent and Medway as it would need a huge amount of infrastructure to support it and it would devastate one of Europe’s most important areas for migrating wildfowl.

“An overwhelming majority of people agree it is unaffordable to spend up to £70 billion on a new airport and that the government’s plans to improve regional airports is the right policy. Boris needs to listen to public opinion, admit it is a pie in the sky idea and drop it for good.”

Methodology

The poll was conducted as part of a national omnibus research project in August 2011 undertaken by ICM Research at a cost of £460 to Medway Council.  The researchers spoke to a nationally representative sample of 1,000 GB adults aged 18+.  Full information about the omnibus research used is available here.

The full results of the research questions on behalf of Medway Council are available to download here.

The comments – made by Steve Ridgway in an interview in today’s Financial Times(Monday, 24 Janaury 2011) – are the most critical by an airline head since London mayor Boris Johnson launched a report calling for a new four-runway hub airport in the south east last week.

The mayor has ardently campaigned for an island airport off the Kent and Essex coast for more than two years, despite huge opposition from local residents, as well as business leaders and the aviation industry.

His latest report, written by Transport for London Deputy Chair Daniel Moylan, was released at London’s City Hall last Tuesday.

Speaking to the Financial Times since that report’s release, Virgin Atlantic’s Mr Ridgway said a Thames Estuary airport would be on the wrong side of London – and away from most of its users.

He told the newspaper: “It’s very noble but it’s just not do-able or deliverable and it’s the wrong side of where the locus of the economy is. Hong Kong did it but we could never do that with the south-east being so congested….We don’t support the Thames estuary solution.”

Mr Ridgway added: “We’ve had 60 years of Heathrow being the number one airport and being the number one international airport. Realistically, if you had your time again you probably wouldn’t put it there, but the fact is it is there and it’s driven the whole shape of the UK economy.”

Medway Council in Kent have run a joint campaign since 2009 with Kent County Council, backed by the RSPB, against the Thames Estuary airport – which they argue is undeliverable, unaffordable and unnecessary.

Cllr Chambers, the Leader of Medway Council, welcomed Mr Ridgway’s comments.

He said: “It is good news to hear that Steve Ridgway, one of the biggest names in the global aviation industry, has spoken out against an airport in the Thames Estuary.

“I believe the vast majority of people are against this pie in the sky airport, we know the government are against it and this has reaffirmed our belief that the airline industry is against it as well.

“We did a study last year, which clearly showed that nine out of ten airline operators using Heathrow are against the Thames Estuary airport.

“Now Mr Ridgway’s comments – one week after Boris Johnson tried to kick start his flagging campaign for his island airport – show why the mayor should ground this Thames Estuary pipe dream.

“He states the most obvious reason why an airport estuary would not work – it is on the wrong side of London.

“We support the government’s policy that we should seek to use up the capacity of existing airports and build new high speed rail links.”

Mr Ridgway’s comments follow a study by Medway Council last year, which showed that nine out of ten airline operators using Heathrow are against an airport in the Thames Estuary.

And Willie Walsh, the Chief Executive of British Airways, has previously spoken out against the Mayor’s pie in the sky proposal.

Medway Council with Kent County Council, and backed by the RSPB, started an online petition where people can show their opposition against the Thames Estuary airport more than a year ago. It can be found at www.stopestuaryairport.co.uk.

They say that such an airport should not go ahead as it would be too costly and would be built on an area of huge scientific importance used by hundreds of thousands of migrating birds annually. It would also turn huge chunks of Kent and Essex into a concrete jungle.

The mayor has campaigned for more than two years for a new £40billion hub airport on a man-made island off the Kent and Essex coast.

But his scheme has been repeatedly rejected by the government, and the aviation industry.

This morning (Tuesday, 18 February) the mayor held a seminar to discuss the economic need for increased airport capacity, and a new hub airport for south-east England.

In this he released a report on this subject, but did not specifically name a preferred site for any new airport.

Rodney Chambers, the leader of Medway Council in Kent, said: : “It seems a little late in the day to now try and pull the wool over people’s eyes in the way the mayor appears to be doing with this new report.

“He may say that they are not currently looking at a specific location for his new hub airport, but he has campaigned vigorously for one in the Thames Estuary for some time now.

“Daniel Moylan, who is the author of this new report, was dispatched to see me just before Christmas by the mayor to try and cut a deal.

“In that meeting, Mr Moylan made it clear that London mayor Boris Johnson was supportive of a Thames Estuary airport and he asked me if we in Medway would agree to it if all the infrastructure, such as new train lines, roads etc., were based in Essex and not Kent.

“I responded that we in Medway can’t comment on what should or should not happen in Essex and reaffirmed the opinion of all at Medway Council and the vast majority of people in Kent, that the mayor’s island airport scheme is unnecessary, unworkable and unaffordable.

“It seems as if Boris Johnson has tried campaign for this airport, but is now trying a new approach due to the resistance he has met from the huge amount of people who are against his plans.

“The mayor now needs to make clear where he stands on the Thames Estuary airport.

“Has he seen sense and abandoned this pie in the sky scheme or is this a ploy to persuade the government of his plan that he has campaigned for for some time.

“People across the Thames Estuary, including residents across Medway and Kent, do need to know as the airport will affect them greatly. “

Medway Council and Kent County Council, backed by the RSPB, launched a campaign in 2009 – and online petition at www.stopestuaryairport.co.uk – against the Thames Estuary airport plan.

They argue that an estuary airport would turn parts of Medway and Kent into a concrete jungle and disrupt the environment off the Hoo Pensinsula where the island airport would be built – a place with Sites of Special Scientific Interest and internationally important areas used by hundreds of thousands of migrating birds.

The campaign argues that instead of building a new airport in the Thames Estuary the capacity of existing airports, where the infrastructure is already in place, should be fully used.

For instance, Manston Airport, in Kent, has one of the longest runways in Europe and already has a high-speed rail link while Birmingham International Airport has previously said it could double its capacity, allowing an extra nine million passengers to fly from it annually.

“I am furious that this unwelcome proposal to concrete over the Hoo Peninsula to create an international airport is back on the table.

In 2002 we successfully fought proposals to build an airport on green fields and internationally important wetlands in Medway and we will do so again.

The pie in the sky idea of building an airport in the Thames Estuary, being pushed by Boris Johnson to deflect the debate away from Heathrow expansion, is virtually dead.

Yet still Boris persists by resurrecting unacceptable proposals to build an airport in Medway that would cause massive environmental damage and be potentially dangerous to passengers and aircraft through the risk of bird strike.

The solution to increasing airport capacity in the south east needs to involve using capacity nationally not destroying a precious greenfield site in the south east.

Birmingham Airport, for example, wants to expand. In a recent survey, nearly half of Londoners said they would fly from there when the high-speed train link between London and Britain’s second city is built.

The MPs of Medway and North Kent must stand up for the area and declare their opposition to building an airport in North Kent.

I call on the coalition government to unequivocally rule out building an airport on the Hoo Peninsula.

Medway fought the last government’s proposals for this and we will fight once again. We were right last time and we will be right again.

This is an obscene proposal that must never be allowed to get off the ground.”

The campaign was set up last year by Medway Council, Kent County Council and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB along with an online petition, which can be found at www.stopestuaryairport.co.uk

The Mayor of London has proposed spending £40billion on constructing a huge six-runway airport in the middle of the Thames estuary.

Medway Council believes that this pie in the sky plan would turn parts of Medway and Kent into a concrete jungle and disrupt the environment off the Hoo peninsula- a place with Sites of Special Scientific Interest and internationally important areas used by hundreds of thousands of migrating birds.

Research by Medway Council has shown that nearly nine out of ten international airlines using Heathrow are against the proposals, which could lead to Britain’s largest airport relocating.

And a survey by One Poll has demonstrated that fewer than one in five support the idea of an airport in the Thames estuary.

Cllr Rodney Chambers said: “Now that we’ve had a general election, and there are a number of new Members of Parliament, it is a good opportunity to seek even more support than we already have in our campaign and today I am writing to the MPs who representative those areas that would be affected by an estuary airport to encourage them to join me in opposing this pie in the sky scheme.”

Nearly nine out of ten of the international airlines using Heathrow are against the plan to build a Thames Estuary airport.

“In brief BAR UK and its members do not support such an airport.

• Huge safety fears of bird-strikes from large colonies in the estuary.

• It would cause huge unemployment around Heathrow, which employs 70,000 direct staff, and the collapse of the economy of Thames Valley and west London.
• It would cost billions of pounds of public money to fund the new site, whereas Heathrow’s runway expansion would be paid for by the airport operator and its airline customers.
• There is inadequate transportation to handle the projected 63 million passengers per annum that would start and finish their journeys at a Thames Estuary airport.
• Transport problems caused by passengers from the South West, Wales and southern Midlands having to travel through or around London to access the estuary.
• As Heathrow is a major hub airport ‘it is naive to assume airlines and passengers would simply use Thames Estuary as an alternative’.
• Unknown dangers connected to wartime munitions ship sunk in the estuary with volatile cargo.

The report, Thames Estuary Airport – Feasibility Review, was agreed by all members of Medway Council at a meeting of Full Council on Thursday, 14 January.

It looks at the Mayor of London’s feasibility study into his pie in the sky scheme and points out major areas where the airport plan fails.

For instance, it shows that the airport, which the Mayor of London wants to build as a replacement to Heathrow, would be some 60 miles from London.

This would be like moving Manchester’s airport to Leeds, Birmingham’s runway to Milton Keynes or picking up the Bristol International Airport and placing it on the other side of Cardiff.

In addition to this, an estuary airport would be in an area where aircraft would be 12 times more at risk of bird strike than at any other major UK airport and would be close to Thamesport – where ships unload their cargoes of Liquid Natural Gas.

The report, which was backed by every councillor from each group, also points out that while a new high-speed rail service would need to be built, a constraint to this would be St Pancras, where there is little space for more domestic or international services to be added.

This could lead to the need for a new train station in central London – significantly adding to the estimated £40 billion cost of the estuary airport.

The report points out that the airport plan would cause environmental destruction by causing harm to Sites of Special Scientific Interest and other areas used by hundreds of thousands of migrating birds annually.

And it states that a new airport would encourage more air travel and that the construction of the major roads and rail links needed would cause significant harm to Medway’s landscape.

The report adds that there would be increased pressure for more development in the area and points out that the mayor’s feasibility study does not show how people in Medway would get to the airport without going by train via Ebbsfleet.

If the airport plan did ever get off the ground, this oversight would lead to a significant increase in the number of local car journeys in Medway and north Kent ,  adding to congestion and pollution.

In addition to all these factors, the report points out that Kent International Airport at Manston has one of the longest runways in Europe, which could be connected to the already existing high speed train service for a fraction of the price.

Medway’s councillors have now asked the council’s officers to contact Douglas Oakervee, the author of the Mayor of London’s feasibility study, to advise him that any justification for a new airport should only be considered once detailed studies of the transport infrastructure to London and other areas had taken place.

They also want Mr Oakervee to clarify the routes of road and rail links detailed in his report.

Councillors have asked officers to draw to Mr Oakervee’s attention the presence of the Liquid Natural Gas import facilities at nearby Thamesport

The report follows news that the leaders of all of Medway Council’s groups are to go to London’s City Hall to meet Deputy Mayor Kit Malthouse in March so that they can explain to him why an airport should not be built in the estuary.

And it comes after the launch of a campaign and an online petition by Medway Council, Kent County Council and the RSPB, which has been signed by nearly 1,500 people. To sign the petition go to www.stopestuaryairport.co.uk

Rodney Chambers, the Leader of Medway Council, said: “I am pleased that all councillors in Medway are united in their decision to stop the Mayor of London’s plans to build an airport in the Thames Estuary.

“This report shows exactly what we already knew – that these plans for an estuary airport are completely pie in the sky.

“His feasibility study has not taken into account so many things such as the distance it would be from London and whether passengers or airlines would actually want this.

“It has disregarded the fact that huge quantities of Liquid Natural Gas are imported near to the proposed airport site everyday and only a very arbitrary study of the transport links needed has been undertaken.

“I urge as many people as possible to sign our petition at www.stopestuaryairport.co.uk and help us stop this unnecessary and ill-thought out airport plan.”

Notes to Editors:

Medway Council’s report, Thames Estuary Airport – Feasibility Revi, can be found at http://www.medway.gov.uk/f20100114r-3.pdf