Il governo attuale fara' una consultazione ufficiale sull'attuabilita' dell'aeroporto
Thames Estuary airport plans to be examined
The government is to hold a formal consultation on controversial plans for a new airport in the Thames Estuary.
The study on the airport, championed by London Mayor Boris Johnson, is due to be announced in March.
Downing Street said no decisions had been made but ministers wanted to explore all options for maintaining the UK's status as a global aviation hub.
David Cameron has ruled out expanding Heathrow but his deputy Nick Clegg is said to be opposed to the estuary idea.
The BBC News Channel's chief political correspondent Norman Smith said the deputy prime minister was prepared to allow the consultation, but the Lib Dems were opposed to all airport expansion in the south east of England.
Bird Life
The airport would be built partly on reclaimed land and could be on either an island or a peninsula.
But concerns have been raised about damage to the environment.
Campaigners say the site, which is renowned for its populations of wintering birds and is an important breeding ground for birds such as avocets and marsh harriers in summer, must be protected.
In his Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne did not rule out a new hub, and this was seen by many as a clear sign that the government was warming to the scheme.
David Cameron is said to be supportive of Mr Johnson's alternative to expanding Heathrow, but will await the outcome of the consultation.
Passenger demand for London's airports is forecast to increase from 140 million passengers a year in 2010 to 400 million passengers a year by 2050, according to a previous report by the Greater London Authority.
Colin Matthews, chief executive of airport operator BAA, which runs Heathrow, said he was pleased the government was recognising the need for more airport capacity.
'Huge issue'
But he warned that London "can't have two hubs" and a new airport would inevitably mean Heathrow getting much smaller: "The consequences of closing Heathrow wouldn't just be big for my company.
"It would be big for 100,000 jobs in this part of London. It's a huge issue economically, a huge issue politically."
Mr Matthews also said any estuary airport would be "decades away" and there were questions about whether it was affordable.
But Mr Johnson - who is running for a second term as mayor in May - told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he believed cost was not a issue and there would be plenty of sovereign wealth funds willing to invest in the project.
"The difficulty would not be the financing of the airport per se... the difficulty obviously would be in the infrastructure, connectivity between the airport and central London, and that's why the consultation is essential," he said.
'Crazy'
The mayor said Heathrow was "fundamentally in the wrong place" - given the huge disruption it caused to the population of west London - and expanding it would only "entrench" that mistake further.
"We can't go on expecting Britain to compete with France, Germany and other European countries when we simply can't supply the flights to these growth destinations - China, Latin America.
"We are being badly left behind."
But other candidates for London mayor have all expressed their opposition to the idea.
Labour's Ken Livingstone has called it "crazy", the Green Party's Jenny Jones opposes it primarily on environmental grounds, while Lib Dem hopeful Brian Paddick has said the priority for London should be affordable, reliable public transport instead.
The RSPB, Medway Council and Kent County Council have opposed the Thames Estuary idea, saying it is "undeliverable, unaffordable and unnecessary".
'No decisions'
Conservative MP for Chatham and Aylesford Tracey Crouch - whose constituency is close to the estuary - wrote on Twitter: "Consultation on Boris Airport is a tedious, unnecessary, expensive waste of taxpayers' money".
The GMB union's civil aviation industry national officer, Mick Rix, also said the estuary plan was "plain daft".
"GMB consider that this is profoundly wrong and calls on all political parties to reopen the issue of the third runway at Heathrow," he said.
In May 2010 plans for a third runway and sixth terminal at Heathrow were scrapped when the coalition government took office.
BAA withdrew its plans for a second runway at Stansted at the same time and any expansion of Gatwick before 2019 has also been ruled out.
A Department for Transport spokesman said "no decisions have been taken," adding: "The government will consult on a sustainable framework for UK aviation this spring, at which time we will set out our long-term plans for the sector."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16606212
Qui la presentazione del nuovo aeroporto:
http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/AnewairportforLondon.pdf
