Heathrow to rule out fourth runway until 2040 It will also reject "mixed-mode" - using the present two runways for simultaneous take-off and landing - as a way of creating more flight capacity at the airport. Mr Matthews has told colleagues that he does not want to do anything that will increase the number of hours residents are subjected to plane noise. Without mixed- mode, flight paths are alternated, giving residents some respite for at least half the day. In its submission to the Government's Airports Commission, Heathrow will lay out how local people should be compensated should they lose their homes, and detail extra payments for noise insulation. The submission will argue that quieter aircraft in the future and more flexible flight paths will also reduce the impact on local people. In sharp contrast, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, will tomorrow back a four-runway "super hub" on the Isle of Grain in north Kent or an expansion of Stansted as his preferred options for solving Britain's aviation crisis. Mr Johnson will publish detailed plans to develop a new hub airport on three possible sites, all to the east of London. A scheme on the outer Thames Estuary, which has been dubbed "Boris island" after it gained early support from the Mayor, will also be among the potential options put forward to the Commission, being chaired by Sir Howard Davies. But the project is now understood to be Mr Johnson's least favoured option. The Mayor will also seek to alleviate concerns over the potential economic damage to west London if Heathrow is closed or shrinks as a result of a rival hub airport being built to the east of the capital. He is working on plans to develop the area around Heathrow into a "new" London borough, supporting fast-growing industries such as technology and with thousands of new homes to help to meet demand for housing in the capital. Mr Johnson argues that only a four-runway airport will be able to provide adequate direct connections to booming economies in Asia and South America. Earlier this month, he published research claiming that a super hub could only be developed to the east of London, where there is sufficient space and where the impact on local communities will be minimal compared with an expansion of Heathrow. It is understood that the Mayor's proposals for a hub airport on the sparsely-populated Isle of Grain, in the inner Thames Estuary, will be similar to a scheme designed by Lord Norman Foster, which could potentially be built in seven years.