Major flaws exposed in County Council case for Newquay Airport
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flaws in Cornwall County Council’s plans for expansion. It was personally delivered
to the chief executive and leader of Cornwall County Council on Wednesday 3rd
October 2007. Groundswell Cornwall, the climate change action group, commissioned
the report to test the County Council’s claims that Cornwall’s future development
can only be secured by turning the regional airport into an international gateway.
Oliver Baines OBE says: “This is the first time the County Council’s claims have
been challenged. They don’t stand up to scrutiny. Many are hopelessly flimsy.
We are calling on the County Council for an immediate public debate on their plans.”
Groundswell says: the chance for cheap fuel in the future is nil.
to Cornwall.
Groundswell says: it’s cloud cuckoo land to think that Cornwall can insulate
itself from global issues.
driving a car.
Groundswell says: evidence strongly suggests that air travel is more polluting
than any other form of travel.
negligible.
Groundswell says: the Council claims a threefold increase in passengers – the
environmental impact of this will be huge.
Groundswell says: even if true this prediction would mean that for the next
23 years the continuing losses at the airport would have to be recovered from
rate payers, or by cuts in services elsewhere.
the airport.
Groundswell says: The County Council’s case is invariably overstated and the
airport makes only a minor contribution to the Cornish economy.
College, London, and is available at: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?9dytjtz5n2v
when the then Brymon Airways had a throughput of 80,000 passengers, of which half
were in transit.
part of RAF St Mawgan (due for final closure next summer). In the past the airport
was often considered a backwater for UK passenger flights in spite of its 9000ft
(2745m) runway, one of the longest in the country.
scheduled airport in Cornwall, the alternative for large jets being Exeter, nearly
90 miles away. Plymouth City Airport, just across the county border in Devon and
about one hour’s drive, is limited to 50-seat turboprops and can only take the
BAe 146 series lightly loaded.
is busier than ever before and we’re delighted that we are on-track to meet our
growth target of 400,000 passengers in 2007. The airlines operating at Newquay
offer some great fares and packages, making accessibility to the region very attractive
for holidaymakers and business travellers alike.’
offering more than 50 flights a week with in excess of 2,500 seats. Complementing
its established scheduled services from Gatwick, Bristol, Cardiff, Dublin, Leeds
and Manchester, new this season are four flights a week from Cork. These services
have already proved so popular that the airline has extended their availability
for a further month to meet demand.
737 service from the south London airport and complements the four times daily
Air Southwest operation, some of which go via Plymouth.
and for the first time this service will operate through the winter months to
meet demand. A new route from Belfast City commenced in May and last month flybe
announced the start of a flight to Geneva, for the ski season, effective from
15 December 2007 operating every Saturday until 29 March 2008.
Skybus continues to operate up to seven rotations a day between the Isles of Scilly
and Newquay.