Design

Full Terminal InternalGoodwin Airport is a unique opportunity to build the most efficient, best connected and most sustainable airport in Europe. The airport will be located on a new island reclaimed from the sea on the Goodwin sands. By reclaiming an extensive sand bank the quantity of fill material required for the reclamation is greatly reduced. Locating the new island on a sandbank also ensures that there will be no interference with shipping lanes.

 

The new island will be surrounded by a flood defence bund which will be one of the first structures to be constructed. Filling within the bund will be done in phases as the development of the airport requires.

 

The new island has been designed to be large enough to accommodate all the facilities required within the vicinity of a major airport including:

 

  • Passenger Terminals and satellites
  • Air Freight Terminals
  • Warehousing
  • Aircraft hangers and maintenance facilities
  • Hotels
  • Essential staff accommodation
  • Short stay carparks
  • Fuel storage tanks
  • A sea port for servicing the island

The runway orientation is shown as 30 degrees in order to align with the prevailing wind direction and minimise the incidence of cross winds. This runway alignment with the runways staggered also ensures that there is no overflying of the Kent coast. Only northwest bound aircraft need to cross over the land and they can gain as much altitude as is required over the sea before turning to pass over land.

Using airport noise data published by the Environmental Research and Consultancy Department of the Civil Aviation Authority cumulative case noise contours have been prepared for the northern runway which is closest to the coast, these contours are shown in the diagram below. The noise contour plot shows that the 57db contour, which represents the level of noise which constitutes an annoyance, lies at least 2.5km from the coastline. By managing the operation of the airport by, for example, only using the northern runway for take-offs or landings in a north-easterly direction, the airport could be run so as to be virtually inaudible at the coastal communities of Ramsgate, Deal, Walmer, Kingsdown, St Margaret’s Bay and Dover.

The prevailing wind from the south-west will disperse emissions from the airport away from the coast.

Noise contours, northern runway

Noise contours, northern runway

Initially in the first phase of development there will be three runways served by one terminal building linked to satellite units with up to 150 aircraft slots. Since the airport will be capable of 24/7 operations with no night curfew this first phase will give an airport capacity of up to 150m passengers a year. As demand grows further, the fourth runway will be built together with a second terminal building with further satellites serving an additional 150 slots giving 300 slots in total. The construction of further runways and terminals will be dependent upon growth in demand, not on the availability of land.

Terminal Internal Close 1

Each terminal will sit above its own high speed rail terminal with direct connections to central London and, via the Channel Tunnel, Brussels, Lille, Paris and the European high speed rail network. Located at the water’s edge with views of the White Cliffs of Dover the terminal buildings will also incorporate high speed ferry terminals for links to direct connection to Ramsgate and Dover. The reclamation of the island will mean that these ferry routes will run  predominantly in semi-sheltered waters, similar to the Isle of Wight ferries, enabling operating speeds in excess of 20 knots. Additional ferry services will be able to connect to French and Belgian ports.

 

A road tunnel link to the mainland will connect into the trunk road network. In the early phases of the development there will be sufficient space on the island to provide some long stay car parking with overspill long stay parking located on the mainland. In time as the island becomes fully developed the long stay car parking is likely to be be increasingly provided on the mainland.

 
The appearance and functionality of the airport and its terminal will be critical to its efficient operation; with an unconstrained greenfield site there will be nothing to prevent Goodwin Airport being the best airport in the World – the arrival the UK deserves.

The design layouts we have prepared have principally been to establish that the site is sufficient to accommodate all the airport’s requirements; at this early stage the design is far from fixed. The images presented here show our outline designs worked up as visual representations to give a flavour of what Goodwin Airport could look like. Key features are:

  • Runway alignment 30 degrees
  • Runway separation 1,500m
  • Spacious terminals with panoramic views of the Kent coast
  • Train station beneath the terminal
  • Direct access to ferry terminal at west end of terminal
  • Drop off, taxi and coach stops at east end of terminal
  • Small sea port for fuel delivery and freight handling
  • Option for port to include container transhipment terminal
  • Optional yacht marina
  • Optional cruise ship berth
  • Island site facilitates security
  • Environmental enhancements with new seal basking beaches provided

 

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