Now I declare an active interest in this debate. I work at Heathrow as do probably 50% of the people in my Town.

I can see an estuary airport functioning, it may take noise and pollution away from the mainland and it would be expandable without year long inquests.

But...

What seems to be ignored is the surrounding infrastructure and support industries.

So the following would need to be set up close to the new airport:-

• Over 100 hotels
• Conference Facilities
• 24hr bus and transport infrastructure for workers
• Taxi and Hire Car set ups
• Off airport Parking
• Cargo Handling facilities fro the 50 plus logistic operators based in the area
• Catering centres
• Immigration facilities including secure units
• Quarantine and kennelling
• IT support companies
• Headquarters for the airlines operating out of the airport
• Many more functions that exist to support a major air hub, medical and emergency support.

It is achievable but can you imagine the cost? There are plenty of firms that would go bankrupt in the process, the margins in travel are very slim.
Then is there the room to put these things and the places for the workers to live?

The idealist in me like the idea, start again and plan it right. But the realists just thinks it is way to big to move LHR now. The opportunity was missed in the 70s before the airport building had begun.

So just who is making all the money from the writing of all these reports?

Island airports do seem to work in some locations and - like you - I can see how it would be amazing to have a state-of-the-art new-build designed for current and even future air travel trends. The vast building programme would presumably benefit as many as it inconveniences - not to mention allowing politicians to boast of yet more jobs created in the south-east.
However, as well as the concerns you've mentioned and the loss or transfer of jobs from Heathrow (and maybe Gatwick too), am I wrong in thinking that the Thames estuary is rather prone to fog?

No more than Heathrow and Gatwick, both built in fog prone valleys

One thing: the descent would have to start seventy miles sooner, which could complicate the Dutch airspace.

Did the proposal not get killed this morning then?

Well it did and didn't. Boris is still supporting it. Although i bet this will change if he goes for the Uxbridge seat in the general election.

Wouldn't it be nice if it was built somewhere other than the London?
Combining this with HS2 would possibly help to spread the wealth a bit further than just the South East.

Trouble is many overseas visitors either want or need to go to London and the South of England rather than Edinburg, Birmingham, Manchester etc.

Given the choice, who is going to want to land 3-400 miles north and then get on a southbound train no matter how fast it is.

I think one of the problems would be getting all of the customers around the M25 to the new location, this motorway is already way over capacity.

Yes it would, but it wasn't and moving it to anywhere is just way too expensive now given the infrastructure built around it.

In reality it would not affect me anyway as by the time it was built i would have retired, it just the waste of money with all these debates.

I agree but I'm sure the original Boris Island proposal from last year suggested the trip to Central London would be 45 minutes which is only 5 minutes quicker than the HS2 proposed time was.

no it was much quicker than that. more like 25 minutes i think.

Or educate drivers to use the inside lane, rather than using lanes 3 & 4, whilst lanes 1 & 2 are more free flowing, but that's a separate topic altogether

Must admit I was hoping this proposal would progress further and at least get a second reading. There is space for the support services and given the recent closure of Manston it would give Kent some opportunities in respects of jobs and infrastructure investment. I would likely be under the flight path but think the benefits worth the potential noise.

Problem with heathrow is that even with an extra runway, once it is built it would quickly be running near to full capacity.

What then?
Another runway?
And just where would that go?

A better option has be to move further out from London into a much less populated area, somewhere where MASSIVE expansion (More Runways) would be possible. This would allow more flexibility in flight planning and effect any residents far less frequently. Schipol for example has FIVE runways and strict regulation to mitigate their noise impact.

The OLD RAF Alcunbury site seems suitable. It's close to the A1, which could be expanded to three or four lanes. There are now good links going west (A421 to the M1) and the proposed NEW A14 to the east, and south east via the M11, will be in place soon.

The East Coast Main Line runs to the edge of the site and could be upgraded for High speed rail - Both North and South.