Il futuro dei cieli di Londra


Sindaco Johnson: Il governo potrebbe non mantenere la sua promessa sulla terza pista.

London Mayor Boris Johnson has attacked the removal of Justine Greening as Transport Secretary, saying it meant the Government wanted to "ditch its promises" not to build a third runway at Heathrow.

Ms Greening lost her Transport brief in David Cameron's reshuffle. She will become the new International Development Secretary, taking over from Andrew Mitchell.

Her replacement in the role will be Patrick McLoughlin.

Ms Greening, whose Putney constituency lies under Heathrow flightpaths, has been a vociferous opponent of a third runway.

Mr Johnson was quick to criticise Ms Greening's demotion, claiming it showed that the Goverment was intent on the "simply mad" expansion at Heathrow.

He said he would fight any moves to build a new runway at the busy London terminal "all the way" and accused ministers of failing to be straight with Londoners.

"There can be only one reason to move her - and that is to expand Heathrow airport," Mr Johnson said in a statement.

"It is simply mad to build a new runway in the middle of west London. Nearly a third of the victims of aircraft noise in the whole of Europe live in the vicinity of Heathrow.

"Now it is clear that the Government wants to ditch its promises and send yet more planes over central London."

Downing Street insists the Government's position is unchanged since the coalition agreement of 2010, which committed ministers to scrapping extra runway plans drawn up under Labour.

But it has launched a consultation process on future airport capacity and Chancellor George Osborne sparked speculation over a possible U-turn by saying he believed more runway capacity was needed in the south-east of England and all options should be examined.

Mr Johnson urged Ms Greening's replacement to "look at all the options" available to address the growing need to expand the UK's aviation capacity.

"It is time for Patrick McLoughlin to look at all the options, including bolder solutions that would deliver massive benefits in jobs and growth," he said.

"And it is time for the Government to level with Londoners: are they in favour of a third runway at Heathrow or not?"


fonte: Skynews
 
Mentre i sudditi di Sua Maestà sono alle prese con i grattacapi delle ferrovie, nuova dichiarazione di Boris Johnson ripresa dal Guardian.


Boris Johnson renews attack on government over airports

A new 24-hour four-runway hub airport to replace Heathrow should be developed immediately at Stansted or in the Thames estuary, Boris Johnson said on Thursday, as he criticised the government for delaying new runways and revealed that David Cameron had promised him millions to pay for feasibility studies.

The London mayor said the prime minister already had abundant evidence to make a decision on new airport capacity in the south-east, rather than await the verdict of the Howard Davies commission set to report in 2015.

Johnson reiterated his opposition to Heathrow expansion and said the government was "tiptoeing towards a political electric fence" after being "bewitched" by lobbying from the owners BAA.

He said BAA's plans for a third runway would mean "not only introducing further suffering to hundreds of thousands of Londoners but new suffering to thousands more.

"I say to BAA and BA, forget it. It will not be built. No mayor of London could conceivably accept it."

Johnson also made clear he saw expansion of Stansted as the only other viable option, although the mayor has been more closely associated with the Thames Estuary proposal.

He said he would co-operate with the Davies commission but refused in any way to be bound by its conclusions. He would continue to make his case "like an aeronautical Bill Cash", referring to the veteran Tory backbench eurosceptic.

The mayor denied that the choice of date for his speech, coming just before the Conservative party conference, was significant, although the set piece event was apparently hastily arranged.

Johnson claimed that Heathrow could still have a viable future as a secondary airport, even if it was not the national hub, as a centre for direct freight and business travel.

However, BAA's director of corporate affairs, Claire Harbord, said: "There can only be one hub. The business model at Heathrow is that it is a hub. And whatever the eventual outcome, you need to protect the hub in the meantime because our competitors are eating our lunch."

Former transport secretary Steve Norris, a proponent of the Stansted option, warned that the only way to get major airlines to move to a new hub airport would be to close Heathrow. "You've got to say you'll shut Heathrow. And that causes just as many problems as extra runways."

The mayor is believed to have secured his funding for feasibility studies into his preferred options while dining with Cameron at Chequers last weekend. His top adviser, Daniel Moylan, said that Cameron had personally pledged that London would not carry the costs of examining options for a new airport, although Johnson had earmarked £3m from Transport for London for the task.

However, Moylan reiterated that the government should not wait for the Davies commission verdict and should make a decision well before the 2015 election.

He said: "It's strange that the government should decide how long the work should take before they know what the workload is."


http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/oct/04/boris-johnson-attack-government-airports