LONDON BIRMINGHAM "TRUMPS BORIS ISLAND"

20-10-2009

Birmingham International Airport has stepped up its campaign to place itself as a replacement for Heathrow’s controversial Terminal Three – which the Tories have pledged to axe if they are elected.

London Mayor Boris Johnson has again revived the alternative of a new airport in the Thames estuary – the so-called Boris Island if Heathrow ‘s expansion is abandoned.

As The Stirrer recently reported, BIA could sustain another 9 million passengers under existing agreements – and if a high speed rail link is added at the NEC, passengers could be ferried to and from London in 38 minutes.

A train link from a new Estuary terminal, by contrast, is estimated to take 45-60 minutes.

With that kind of proximity, airport insiders are optimistically talking up Birmingham Airport as being “within Zone 4 of the London Underground”.