New London Airport

[YorkRailFan]

I've been talking on another forum with some fellow Avgeeks about Heathrow and the issue they have with a new runway. One of the Avgeeks proposed a new London airport. My reply was where. Where would you put it? So that's why I'm starting this thread. If a new airport for London was built, where would one build it? My thoughts are Essex, Kent, or Surrey. Obviously this isn't going to happen under any Government as the prices would be through the roof to build it.

 

[deltic]

Boris island in the Thames Estuary

 

[YorkRailFan]

Boris island in the Thames Estuary

Oh Lord no.

 

[PGAT]

Probably somewhere in Kent, it has the crappiest connections of all the home counties around London

 

[Mzzzs]

A floating airport on thames it's an interesting idea. Land close to london will almost certainly cost a fortune and face many problems.

 

[YorkRailFan]

A floating airport on thames it's an interesting idea. Land close to london will almost certainly cost a fortune and face many problems.

Almost like London City.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

North Weald - close Stansted (and expand Cambridge City Airport) and you have a pretty good site.

 

[lachlan]

I've been talking on another forum with some fellow Avgeeks about Heathrow and the issue they have with a new runway. One of the Avgeeks proposed a new London airport. My reply was where. Where would you put it? So that's why I'm starting this thread. If a new airport for London was built, where would one build it? My thoughts are Essex, Kent, or Surrey. Obviously this isn't going to happen under any Government as the prices would be through the roof to build it.

Sounds like with the new CEO at Heathrow the third runway option is still under active consideration.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Sounds like with the new CEO at Heathrow the third runway option is still under active consideration.

I saw that, I will start a new thread on it.

 

[PGAT]

North Weald - close Stansted (and expand Cambridge City Airport) and you have a pretty good site.

It would have been nice if North Weald was chosen as the site of a new airport instead of Stansted when it was still part of the Central line because it doesn’t really make sense to close Stansted now

 

[Tetchytyke]

Money no object? Environment no concern? Then definitely out in the Thames Estuary, Isle of Grain sort of area. Worked for Hong Kong.

I don’t think London needs another airport though. It has three major airports- four if you include Luton- already. I also don’t think Heathrow needs another runway. It needs better use of its existing infrastructure. One A380 carries the same number of passengers as two B787s. There’s your solution.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Money no object? Environment no concern? Then definitely out in the Thames Estuary, Isle of Grain sort of area. Worked for Hong Kong.

I don’t think London needs another airport though. It has three major airports- four if you include Luton- already. I also don’t think Heathrow needs another runway. It needs better use of its existing infrastructure. One A380 carries the same number of passengers as two B787s. There’s your solution.

They're not making A380s anymore though.

There's already one plane over head every 90 seconds on the final approach. Not much more they can squeeze in there.

 

[CBlue]

North Weald - close Stansted (and expand Cambridge City Airport) and you have a pretty good site.

Good luck expanding Cambridge airport. It's surrounded on all sides by housing or industrial zones and the owners plan to close it for conversion to housing in 2030 or so.

 

[Tetchytyke]

They're not making A380s anymore though.

They’re not, because airlines have gone down the little and often route. Most of those planes coming into Heathrow will be small narrow-bodies.

Fine, but don’t use piddly little planes then complain about a lack of slots.

 

[edwin_m]

Next to Calvert where HS2 and EWR cross. Just about the only thing (apart from a totally new city) that might justify a station there. Runway aligned SW-NE for typical winds would mainly be over less populated areas. Locals would be up in arms no doubt, having defeated a proposal for Cublington back around 1968.

 

[YorkRailFan]

They're not making A380s anymore though.

Airbus won't make the A380neo either.

 

[Enthusiast]

It would have been nice if North Weald was chosen as the site of a new airport instead of Stansted when it was still part of the Central line...

Bit of a nuisance having to cross the footbridge at Epping with all your luggage. And the power capacity of the single line (2 x 4 cars or 1 x 8 car, IIRC) would definitely be a problem. Still, handy for those coming from Ongar or Blake Hall!

 

[edwin_m]

Bit of a nuisance having to cross the footbridge at Epping with all your luggage. And the power capacity of the single line (2 x 4 cars or 1 x 8 car, IIRC) would definitely be a problem. Still, handy for those coming from Ongar or Blake Hall!

Would the runway lights all go dim whenever the train set out?

 

[BayPaul]

Luton.
Build 3 additional runways south of the current one, with an Atlanta style toast rack terminal between runways 2 & 3, with a new MML station and dedicated M1 junction. Ideally you'd also divert EW rail via the airport, or otherwise provide a link to the WCML and/or ECML.
Positioned on the right side of London with excellent connectivity.

 

[gabrielhj07]

The Thames Estuary is on the wrong side of London to be easily accessible from the Midlands & the West. Imagine having to go through or around Greater London to get anywhere.

Luton.
Build 3 additional runways south of the current one, with an Atlanta style toast rack terminal between runways 2 & 3, with a new MML station and dedicated M1 junction. Ideally you'd also divert EW rail via the airport, or otherwise provide a link to the WCML and/or ECML.
Positioned on the right side of London with excellent connectivity.

Topography might become an issue south of Luton

 

[edwin_m]

Topography might become an issue south of Luton

Yep, Luton is basically sitting on a plateau and on all sides there's either the built up area of Luton or the land falls away without enough space for a parallel runway, unless perhaps it's on stilts Madeira-style.

 

[Chester1]

I would close London City and London Southend and build housing on the land reserved for Heathrow third runway and ban additional runways at Gatwick, Luton and Stansted. That would still allow London flights to increase until Luton and Stansted are full but would set a hard limit on growth, more reliable than climate change legislation.

 

[Bald Rick]

The Thames Estuary is on the wrong side of London to be easily accessible from the Midlands & the West. Imagine having to go through or around Greater London to get anywhere.


Topography might become an issue south of Luton

Quite!

And south of Luton is rathermore than “might”. 50 metre height differences to deal with !

 

[MP33]

In the book The Goodies File. Bill Oddie wrote a piece with advice for birdwatching. The answer to the question where is the best place to see threatened and endangered Flora and Fauna. Was find where the Government is planning to build the next Airport or Nuclear Power Station and go there quickly.

 

[MasterSpenny]

I don’t think we need another London airport - Heathrow as a whole is massive, with longer flights coming from there. Plus there is also London City for shorter flights

 

[AlastairFraser]

Hypothetically and without regard for the environment, I'd say the Hoo peninsula in Kent.
Enough room for 4 runways (2 north of Cliffe/2 north of St Mary Hoo - terminals in-between), extant rail line, close to a fuel terminal. Then you'd close Heathrow and build a new borough of London on it.

 

[Cloud Strife]

One interesting part of this discussion is that London doesn't really need a new airport, it just needs to use existing ones more efficiently. For instance, Southend is perfect for flights to the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and it makes sense to restrict Benelux flights to using only Southend. There are a huge amount of daily flights between London and Amsterdam, and Southend could easily remove the vast majority of them. It's an absurdity for Amsterdam flights to fly to Heathrow, Gatwick or Luton when Southend is right next to the sea.

 

[MotCO]

How about close to Old Oak Common - it would give HS2 a purpose

 

[edwin_m]

How about close to Old Oak Common - it would give HS2 a purpose

HS2 goes almost underneath RAF Northolt...

 

[Trainguy34]

One interesting part of this discussion is that London doesn't really need a new airport, it just needs to use existing ones more efficiently. For instance, Southend is perfect for flights to the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and it makes sense to restrict Benelux flights to using only Southend. There are a huge amount of daily flights between London and Amsterdam, and Southend could easily remove the vast majority of them. It's an absurdity for Amsterdam flights to fly to Heathrow, Gatwick or Luton when Southend is right next to the sea.

Maybe a "Southend Airport Express" rebrand is in order?