London Mayor's Vision For 'Boris Island' May Not Be On Airports Commission Expansion Shortlist

The Thames estuary airport, which would be built on a man-made island floating in the river, is reportedly on the bubble with the U.K. Airports Commission as it looks at expansion plans for the region.

The airport, popularly known as 'Boris Island' because of strong support for the idea from London Mayor Boris Johnson, is "the option most at risk" of not making the Commission's short list of recommended sites for expansion, according to Daniel Moylan, the mayor's aviation advisor. The online site Buying Business Travel relays a report from the U.K. newspaper the Daily Telegraph in which Moylan says that in his view, the commission should include both the Thames estuary airport and an expansion at Stansted on its shortlist of recommendations. Both have been supported by Johnson.

The report from the commission is due out later this month. Moylan told the paper that if Boris Island is not on the list, then the commission owes the public an explanation as to how "they can really contemplate inflicting the misery of an expanded Heathrow on a million people or developing Gatwick into a four-runway hub airport.”

(Image from file)

FMI: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/airports-commission