Look north for air traffic relief, says BCCG
Birmingham business leaders have hit out at plans for the controversial 'Boris Island' airport hub and urged the government to "look north" for an immediate solution.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has proposed to increase aviation capacity by building a new hub in the Thames Estuary.
Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group (BCCG) said the city's airport could offer an immediate answer to the problem of air traffic congestion in the South East by doubling its passenger numbers.
BCCG president Mike Ward said: "There is no logic in building a new airport in the Thames Estuary or anywhere else in the South East.
"This hugely expensive and far-off solution to the UK's aviation capacity issues would do little to boost the UK's business in the decades before its completion. The chamber believes that the government should look north to boost the capacity and expansion plans of the UK's regional airports.
"The chamber has suggested that Birmingham Airport has the spare capacity to double its passenger numbers overnight. And with the secretary of state giving the go-ahead for HS2, Birmingham Airport will be 38 minutes from London Euston – making it much quicker to travel from vast swathes of London to Birmingham Airport than it would be to travel to the Thames Estuary.
"Spending £50bn on an already prosperous part of the country when cheaper solutions exist now that would benefit the North and the Midlands is the wrong approach and we will be stating that in our response to the government's consultation."
