News: Zaha Hadid Architects has been appointed by the Mayor of London to help develop plans for a major new airport in the southeast of England.

Hadid's firm will work alongside UK-based engineers Atkins and Pascall+Watson, the architects who designed Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport, to prepare a submission to the UK government about the future of aviation around the capital.

"This work is essential to deliver the most integrated transport solutions for London and the UK," said Hadid. "It will enable London to maintain its position as one of the world's most important economic, commercial and cultural centres, outlining the city's future growth and development, which has always been founded on global connectivity."

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "It is absolutely imperative that work to progress a new hub airport in the southeast is completed as soon as possible. The government has set a timetable that dawdles, when dash should be the order of the day.

"That is why I have assembled a mighty team of experts who I have tasked with delivering a fulsome examination of the most realistic solutions to our aviation crisis in the shortest time possible, which I look forward to sharing with the government."

In 2011, architect Norman Foster unveiled his own proposals for an airport and transport hub on the Thames estuary, while last year architects Gensler proposed a floating airport connected by underwater tunnels for the same location – see all airports.

Earlier this week Hadid slammed the UK's "misogynist" attitude towards women architects after a survey found nearly a third knew they were paid less than their male counterparts – see all news about Zaha Hadid.

Top image shows Hadid's proposal for an extension to Zagreb Airport in Croatia.

Here's the full press release:

Mayor announces world-class team to develop hub airport plans

The Mayor of London has appointed a world-class team of experts to help develop plans for a multi runway hub airport in the southeast.
Today (11 February) the Mayor will also give oral evidence to an aviation inquiry convened by the Parliamentary Transport Select Committee. Committee members are expected to ask him why developing a new hub airport is so important to London and to explain why further expansion of Heathrow is impossible.

Appointing a world-class team of experts has added further weight to the work being driven forward by the Mayor to address the nation’s aviation crisis. He has made it very clear that he wishes to see the speediest possible resolution to the debate on where to build a multi runway hub airport, so that the British economy is given the best chance to prosper in the face of huge competition from its global rivals
The Mayor has confirmed that the following organisations have all been engaged to help with work being prepared for submission to the Government.

They will provide expertise under the following themes:

Airport design & infrastructure

Atkins - one of the world’s leading design, engineering and project management consultancies. Projects they have worked on include the London 2012 Olympics, Bahrain World Trade Centre and the Dubai Metro. Atkins will also lead on consideration of surface access and environmental impacts.

Zaha Hadid Architects – Zaha Hadid was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize (considered to be the Nobel Prize of architecture) in 2004 and is internationally renowned for her theoretical and academic work. Time Magazine included her in their 2010 list of the 100 most influential people in the world. She has worked on globally celebrated projects such as the London 2012 Aquatics Centre and Guangzhou Opera House in China.

Pascall & Watson architects - Previous projects include Heathrow Terminal 5, Dublin Airport Terminal 2, Rome Fiumicino Airport Masterplan. They also designed St Pancras International Station.

Socio economic impacts

Ramboll – a leading international engineering and management consultancy with a track record of examining the economic impact of airports and other infrastructure from around the world, supporting key developments in European air traffic control, working on the new Thames Crossing and developing National Policy Statements.

Oxford Economics – a world leader in global forecasting and quantitative analysis for business and government with unrivalled experience of exploring the economic impact of the aviation sector and airports for clients including IATA, ATAG, BAA and Airbus and developing economic forecasts and scenarios for London.

York Aviation – a leading firm specialising in the assessment of the economic impacts of aviation and aviation demand planning.

Professor Peter Tyler - Peter is a Professor in urban and regional economics in the Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge and Fellow at St. Catharine's College. Peter has an extensive track record in undertaking research for the public and private sector and an established reputation in the field of urban and regional economics with a particular emphasis on the evaluation of policy. He has been a Project Director for over seventy major research projects for Government.

Commercial viability

Ernst and Young – a global leader in assurance, tax, transactions and advisory services.

Legal and regulatory

Ashurst – The leading global law firm, which specialises in advising corporates, financial institutions and governments. Their core businesses are in corporate, finance, energy, resources and infrastructure.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "It is absolutely imperative that work to progress a new hub airport in the southeast is completed as soon as possible. The Government has set a timetable that dawdles when dash should be the order of the day. That is why I have assembled a mighty team of experts who I have tasked with delivering a fulsome examination of the most realistic solutions to our aviation crisis in the shortest time possible, which I look forward to sharing with the Government."

Zaha Hadid said: "This work is essential to deliver the most integrated transport solutions for London and the UK. It will enable London to maintain its position as one of the world's most important economic, commercial and cultural centres; outlining the city's future growth and development which has always been founded on global connectivity."

Mike Pearson, UK director of airports, Atkins said: "This project is not purely about the creation of a new hub airport, it's about forming the foundations for London's future development and reaffirming the UK's position as a key international centre. It will fundamentally shift the debate on UK aviation once and for all, providing both a convincing and compelling case for how international air connectivity is critical to underpinning the UK economy, as well as driving wider regeneration."

Around 15 different proposals for a new hub airport in the southeast have already been made public. The Mayor has consulted on criteria that will be used to evaluate each of those proposals and to form a shortlist of options. That shortlist is expected to be announced within weeks and the team now assembled by the Mayor will combine their expertise to produce detailed feasibility studies of the shortlisted options that the Mayor will submit to the Davies Commission.