Some of the many articles backing more expansion of London airports
or another getting media time to argue for a new runway, or a new airport, or
a cut in tax etc. These are a few recent ones. There is Lord Glendonbrook wanting
new runways at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. He is one of the Conservatives’
largest donors …. And there are articles in the Telegraph every few days. And
yet more complaints about paying APD …
lobby have resulted in Justine Greening at Transport and the Labour Party abandoning
the third runway. Are they losing their touch?”
Airport restrictions ‘damaging economy’, Tory peer says
Heathrow
the UK economy, according to the former owner of the airline BMI.
Gatwick and Stansted airports.
in the UK aviation industry next year.
trade with emerging markets worth £1.4bn a year if Heathrow is not allowed to
expand.
building at Heathrow.
is going to be hugely damaging to the country and to the economy.”
of the Conservatives’ biggest donors.
priority was “making airports better within their current capacity”.
prospects for growth.
is approximately double the effect of the carbon itself. Hence flying has a uniqely damaging effect, compared to surface transport, for the same amount of fuel. any more carbon in 2050 than it did in 2005. Though there will be small improvements in per plane efficiency, and of air traffic control, of perhaps 3% per year on average, this does not permit more than perhaps an increase of 60% of passengers by UK aviation between now and 2050. Not massive expansion everywhere. that this can be achieved by biofuels. This is highly unlikely. Biofuels do not achieve great carbon savings, have massive social and environmental effects due to indirect land use effects, and are merely a diversion. They will not solve the industry’s problems over coming decades, and allow magical carbon-free growth.
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29 Oct 2011
Chamber of Commerce and chief executive of International Airlines Group, had the
honour of welcoming a very special guest to a gala evening earlier this month.
The guest’s name? Justine Greening, the new transport secretary who has set her
face firmly against any expansion of airport capacity in the south-east of England.
Mr Walsh believes that Ms Greening has a “conflict of interest” issue to address.
As the MP for Putney in south-west London, under the Heathrow flight-path, she
owes many of her votes (and hence her livelihood) to being a strong opponent of
a third runway at the UK’s only hub airport.
has described the lack of an airports policy worth the name as “a scandal”. Of
course, given that IAG owns British Airways as well as Iberia, his position is
not exactly surprising. But it doesn’t mean he isn’t right.
event and started her speech. She spoke about how “high-performing transport systems
matter”, that transport will be “right at the top of the Government’s agenda”
and “if we want London to be globally competitive, it’s absolutely vital that
London has a world class transport infrastructure”. For London, read the UK.
policy at present grinding its way through the Department for Transport the ban
on the third runway is a done deal. “The political reality is that the runway
decision has been made, it’s done,” Ms Greening told the audience of business
leaders.
of flying. The Government’s position appears to be that it can mitigate such “impacts”
by refusing to build extra capacity where it is needed.
not mean that the extra flights disappear, it simply means they move. Frankfurt
has just opened its fourth runway and Charles de Gaulle and Schiphol are all increasing
the frequency of their connections to the vital growth economies of Asia and Latin
America. CO2 emissions do not stop at national borders.
the sake of the environment. The least you could then expect is for some form
of logical consistency from the Government. Sadly not.
and the south east,” Ms Greening said in another section of her speech.
park at London Gateway, with DP World’s very welcome recent announcement of a
£1.5bn investment in the port. Driven by private finance, this project will mean
the world’s biggest container ships can call at the heart of Britain’s capital.
each year.”
that was a reason for blocking the highly desirably DP World development and all
the economic advantages that it brings than she would say close down the M4 because
cars drive along it. The saving grace for ships, it appears, is that they don’t
fly over Putney (or any other Conservative or Liberal Democrat constituencies).
on Tuesday, is likely to make a similar point. “While a strong shipping industry
is good for the UK, so too is aviation in providing vital global connectivity,”
he is expected to say. Furthermore, aviation has made commitments to reduce long
term CO2 emissions, the only sector to do so according to sources in the industry.
looks increasingly untenable. The idea of a “Heathwick” super-hub airport (joining
Heathrow and Gatwick with a high speed rail link) has almost no backers and plans
for any new development of an airport in the Thames estuary could well be scuppered
by fears over conflicts with flight routes into the Netherlands, France and Belgium.
herself to be a truly great member of the Cabinet if she worked out a way to get
out of it.
next year
By Geoff Ho
cheaper European rivals because of Britain’s high aviation taxes, according to
a survey of airport operators.
blame Britain’s Air Passenger Duty (APD) for airlines transferring services to
airports on the Continent.
passengers will travel through British airports next year due to the Treasury’s
planned double-inflation hike in APD.
economy to the US pays £240 more than passengers flying there from most other
European countries.
Britain’s APD is the highest in the world.
In a letter to Chancellor George Osborne, BAA chief executive Colin Matthews
and representatives from 11 other airports said that the combination of the planned
APD increase and the introduction of the European Union’s carbon emission trading
scheme next year would harm regional economies.
The impact will be to deter people from flying or to displace flights to Europe
rather than to generate more tax revenue.”