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A new Thames Estuary Airport has been proposed at various times since the 1940s. London's existing principal airports, Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, are each sub-optimally located in various ways, such as being too close to built-up areas or requiring aircraft to fly low over London. In the case of Heathrow, the growth of air traffic has meant that the airport is operating at 98% capacity. Several locations for a new airport have been proposed in the Thames Estuary, to the east of London. These include Maplin Sands off Foulness on the north side of the estuary; Cliffe and the Isle of Grain in Kent on the south side; and artificial islands located off the Isle of Sheppey such as the "Boris Island" proposal championed by Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London at the time of writing. Economic considerations have so far ruled out a new coastal airport, while political considerations have ruled out a new inland airport,〔 leaving planners with an as-yet-unresolved dilemma. On 17 December 2013 the "Airports Commission: interim report" was published. The proposal for an Isle of Grain airport undergoes further study in 2014 before the final report is delivered in Summer 2015. Currently the proposals for an additional runway at Gatwick or Heathrow are to undergo further detailed study. ==Background== Before World War II, Croydon Airport was London's principal airport. In 1943 the government built a new heavy military transport airfield on a rural site to the west of London near the village of Heathrow. It was converted to civilian use after the war and went into service as London Airport, later London Heathrow Airport, on 25 February 1946. Another airport already existed at Gatwick and had been used since 1930 as a relief airport for Croydon. A rapid growth in air traffic during the 1950s led to Gatwick becoming London's official second airport in 1954 to accommodate the overspill from Heathrow. Neither location is ideal – the prevailing winds over Heathrow mean that flights have to approach the airport by flying over London, and growth of the city means both airports are now located in built-up areas. In 1943 the aircraft designer Frederick George Miles of Miles Aircraft and long time associate, architect Guy Morgan suggested the construction of a new airport, including a flying boat base, between Cliffe and Allhallows. Intended to serve 8 million passengers per year, the cost of the scheme was estimated at £20 million. It planned with a central Terminus, three concrete runways each two and a half miles long. It was intended to operate 24 hours a day. By 1960, it was becoming apparent that further air capacity was needed. Stansted, a former military airfield in Essex, was proposed as a third airport in 1963. A Government White Paper endorsed Stansted in 1967 and in 1968, after an inconclusive public inquiry, the Government appointed Hon. Mr Justice Roskill to head a Commission to review sites for a third airport. Cublington in the Vale of Aylesbury was its chosen site.〔Hall, p. 20〕 It was seen offering the best access, as it was situated on the key London-Birmingham axis, it would be away from built-up areas and it would cost less than most of the alternatives.〔Hall, p. 33〕 The proposal met with strong opposition from local people and more broadly from politicians and middle-class voters which made it politically untenable.〔Hall, p. 37〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thames Estuary Airport」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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