Stansted architect unveils plans for 150m passenger airport

New plans to build an airport in the Thames Estuary have been unveiled today by renowned architect Lord Foster, the man behind London Stansted and Hong Kong's Chep Lap Kok airports.

Although the Government has scorned London Mayor Boris Johnson's suggestion that a new airport could be built in the Thames Estuary, Norman Foster believes it is viable to build a hub on the Hoo Peninsula on the Isle of Grain, 55km from London.

His project is for an airport with four runways, capable of handling 150m passengers a year, three times the capacity of Heathrow. It would be connected to London by high-speed rail, which would take 30-minutes.

There would also be rail services to the Midlands, the north of England, Suffolk and Essex from the UK's largest train station, to be built below the airport.

Lord Foster's plans were unveiled in the same week that both the Coalition Government and the Labour Party ruled out any possibility of a third runway for Heathrow, despite claims that a lack of capacity in the southeast will stifle economic growth.

He said his project would deliver lasting social, environmental and economic benefits and improve the lives of the 5m people who live under the Heathrow flight path, but it is likely to be opposed by residents in Kent, who have already objected to the Mayor of London's plans for an airport in the Thames Estuary.