Uproar as Newham Council gives go-ahead to City Airport Expansion
inaccurate
for a 50% increase in flights at City Airport despite the admission by the airport
that all the noise measurements it has taken since 2000 are unlikely to be accurate.
Airport representatives told the Council’s Planning Committee that, because of
technical difficulties, they had not been able to take accurate noise measurements
for the last eight years.
Earth, Greenpeace, Plane Stupid, the Camp for Climate Change, the Heathrow campaign
group HACAN as well as the local campaign Fight the Flights, will be consulting
with their lawyers today.
of campaigning I have never seen such a pitiful performance by councillors. Most
of them didn’t seem to have a clue about the issues. They were clearly not up
to deciding a planning application of this importance. It was inept. It is no
wonder that people got so angry and frustrated."
broke out in the hall.
Green light for City airport flights 50% expansion
9.10.2008 (Financial Times)
number of take-offs and landings by around 50%.
of London and Canary Wharf business districts, has grown rapidly in recent years
with passenger volumes rising by more than 20% a year in both 2006 and 2007.
It was already bumping up against its existing limit of 80,000 movements a year,
but on Wednesday night the local planning authority, the London Borough of Newham,
approved a 50 per cent increase to 120,000 movements annually.
hit hard by the turmoil in global financial markets, however.
to rapid expansion in the first half, but it is forecast to be flat in 2010.
Corporate jet movements are already falling and are expected to decline from 15,000
to 14,500 this year.
it very difficult to forecast in recent months," said Richard Gooding, chief executive
of the airport.
to allow passenger numbers to rise to more than 3.9m with the number of jobs at
the airport increasing by 1,000 to more than 3,000.
numbers and in recent months has added four more aircraft stands. It has opened
a new pier and has almost doubled the size of the departure lounge.
business travellers take the opportunity to avoid the increasing congestion at
the main London airports.
the airport with competition growing between the three main airline alliances.
Next year BA plans to open the first long-haul route from London City to New York
JFK using all-business class A318s, the smallest jets made by Airbus.
to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), its partner in the purchase of London
City airport two years ago.
to pressure from the Competition Commission, which is preparing to call for the
break-up of the airports group. Analysts have estimated a Gatwick deal could be
worth £2bn. It is the world’s busiest single runway airport and handled 35m passengers
last year.