Boris Johnson's proposal for an island airport in the Thames Estuary has been rejected by the commission set up to consider ways of expanding the UK's airport capacity.
The London Mayor has backed a plan to develop a four-runway airport on the Isle of Grain in the Thames Estuary. But the Airports Commission said the proposal, dubbed Boris Island, is unviable because of the cost, economic disruption and environmental issues involved.
Sir Howard Davies, chairman of the Airports Commission, said he had "serious doubts" that it was the right answer to London's and the UK's aviation needs.
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He told Sky News: "This would be a huge leap in the dark and we simply don't think it's a practical scheme."
He added that the economic disruption would be "huge" and there are "environmental hurdles which it may prove impossible, or very time-consuming to surmount".
Even the least ambitious version of the plan would cost between £70bn and £90bn, much more than other options, which include a third runway at Heathrow, lengthening an existing runway at Heathrow, and a new runway at Gatwick. The commission has been considering all three options and will make its final recommendation next summer, after the general election.
The Daily Telegraph suggests Boris Johnson might resurrect the battle if he gains a seat in parliament next year. Today, the London Mayor hit back at the Airports Commission, accusing it of setting back the estuary airport debate "by half a century" in "one myopic stroke". Johnson claims that Gatwick is "not a long-term solution" and that a Heathrow expansion would "create unbelievable levels of noise, blight and pollution".
By killing off the Boris Island scheme, the commission will also revive one of the "most bitter policy arguments within the government", says the Financial Times. "The Liberal Democrats are opposed to expanding Heathrow but the Tories – despite having rejected the scheme in 2010 – are increasingly in favour."
