CAMPAIGNERS have branded Boris Johnson a "bonkeramus" for suggesting Stansted Airport should be expanded.
In a speech to business leaders last week, the Mayor or London again rejected calls for another runway at Heathrow and instead called for a new four-runway airport in the Thames Estuary or for capacity at Stansted to be ramped up.
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) campaigners said he was a "bonkeramus", mimicking Mr Johnson's inclination to create new words after describing plans to expand Heathrow as a "fudgerama".
SSE economics adviser Brian Ross, whose organisation has successfully fought off plans for a second runway, said: "Boris is fond of inventing new words and we're sure that, with his expertise in Latin, he'll understand that bonkeramus means 'a bonkers idea put forward by an ignoramus'.
"The Mayor of London has neither the knowledge nor the authority to pronounce on airports policy for the east of England. He should stick to running buses and bicycles in London."
Mr Johnson's intervention came less than a month after the Government announced it would set up an independent commission, led by Sir Howard Davies, to identify and recommend options for keeping the UK as an international hub for aviation.
The Davies Commission will produce an interim report by the end of next year and a final report by the summer of 2015.
Mr Johnson said: "My message is, number one, forget about a new runway at Heathrow. Number two, look at the viable alternatives."
But Mr Ross said: "We will not stand idly by if he tries to appease his West London voters at our expense with an 'anywhere but Heathrow' policy."
Stansted Airport currently sits a distant fourth behind Gatwick and Heathrow in passenger numbers after it was overtaken by Manchester as Britain's third-busiest airport.
BAA has recently been ordered to sell Stansted on competition grounds.
