UK-based design practice Foster + Partners Limited has submitted plans to Airports Commission of the UK Government for a new £24billion ($36.66 billion) hub airport on the Isle of Grain in the Thames Estuary, London, UK.
The proposed hub airport on the Isle of Grain will leverage the London’s development and existing investments in high-speed rail. The airport will be accessible by High Speed 1, High Speed 2 and Crossrail. The airport also enjoys proximity to the South East’s major ports, including the new Dubai Port World’s Thames Gateway, which will enable it to provide more viable economic integration of rail, sea and air freight.
The new airport hub will be a four-runway airport, which will have a capacity to handle 110 million passengers per year, and will have flexibility to grow to handle more than 150 million passengers per year.
A key feature of the airport will be that it will permit most of the flights to fly in and out of the airport over the water, thus cutting down the noise pollution from the city. The new airport will be a 24-hour facility, giving it an edge over the existing Heathrow Airport.
The airport will v e constructed using private funding, which ensures it’s financially sustainability and enable it to achieve a fair price for passengers and airlines. If granted approval by Airports Commission, the new airport is likely to open by 2029.