Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
DfT non-public “information gathering” on Airport Consultative Committees
The Department for Transport is seeking views on Airport Consultative Committees (ACCs), but it is not a public consultation - just for members of the committees. These bodies are generally managed and paid for by the airport, and usually have one environmental representative, compared with many from councils, the airlines, business and the industry. Many airport groups have for years felt that the consultative committees do not give affected communities, or environmental issues, the proper consideration they deserve. Instead airport community groups say most consultative committees are just an extension of the airport’s PR machine. It would be better if the committees were funded independently, rather than having the airport pay the Chair and Secretary - which currently creates an underlying sense of obligation to the airport and its interests. Airport groups are suggesting that there needs to be a better, more independent process, and more democratic choice of chairs. With the recent abolition of ICCAN, there is even less independent oversight of airport operations. Providing greater independence for ACCs could help to redress this.
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City Airport hopes it can get business travellers back, in their droves, in 2022
Like every airport in the UK, London City airport had few passengers in 2021 and 2020, compared to the number before 2019. The number in 2021 was just 15% of the 2019 level. In 2020 it was just 19%. Now its chief executive, Robert Sinclair, is talking up its prospects for 2022. The airport had to have financial help from its investors, to survive the decline in travellers. But Sinclair is hopeful that business travellers will return, in high numbers - though it is widely believed that there will be less business air travel after Covid, as so many companies have adapted to internet meetings and videoconferencing, and changed their working patterns. London City airport had been increasing its proportion of leisure air travellers, though they are less lucrative than business travellers. But with the problems in getting bums back on plane seats, the airport will be hoping to tempt more leisure passengers. They intend to add purely holiday routes to Thessaloniki and Barcelona. But there may be a higher level of awareness of the climate impacts of aviation, meaning a proportion of people choose to fly less for leisure than they did in the past.
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Leeds Bradford Airport development plans at last to go to public inquiry – date unknown
Leeds Bradford airport Leeds Bradford submitted plans for new terminal building & more passengers (4m to 7m a year) in May 2020. There has been intense opposition to the plan, led by local opposition group, GALBA. In March 2021 the terminal plan was approved by Leeds City Council, but in April 2021 the government issued a direction to the Council, preventing councillors from granting the planning permission without special authorisation. There have been numerous requests for the application to be called in. Now it has been announced by the DLUHC - headed by Michael Gove - that the application will indeed go to a public inquiry - though the date is not yet decided. It is a triumph for the persistent pressure by opponents, managing to achieve this significant delay. The inquiry means the arguments against the expansion will be properly and fully heard. Some of the matters that Mr Gove "particularly wishes to be informed about" included the extent to which the proposed development is consistent with government policies for "protecting green belt land" and "meeting the challenge of climate change, flooding and coastal change". Airport expansion can only increase carbon emissions.
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Appeal judges free XR protestor who glued himself to London City Airport plane – sentence cut to 4 months
A former Paralympic athlete, James Brown, who superglued himself to the roof of a British Airways plane at London City Airport to draw attention to the climate crisis has had his sentence cut from one year to four months by appeal judges. Extinction Rebellion activist James Brown from Exeter, was in September jailed by a judge at Southwark Crown Court after being convicted of causing a public nuisance. Lawyers representing Brown said there had been no reason to charge him with causing a public nuisance. They argued that the 12-month term was 'manifestly disproportionate' and said Brown suffered 'unique hardship' in prison because of his disability. The lawyers also questioned the proportionality of the decision to bring the charge, saying he could have been charged with aggravated trespass and told appeal judges that custody was not justified on the facts of the case. The double-gold medallist climbed onto the Amsterdam-bound plane before gluing his right hand to it and wedging his mobile phone in the door to prevent it from closing. He live-streamed the protest until he was removed after an hour.
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Heathrow will not return to “normal” (ie. 2019 levels) of passengers for several years (if ever)
Due to restrictions to try to avoid Omicron spreading, or more being introduced into the UK (it initially probably arrived due to air travel, from Africa) many people who had booked flights over Christmas cancelled. Heathrow said about 600,000 passengers due to use the airport had cancelled. This continued a bad year for the airport. It had only about 19.4 million passengers in 2021 compared to around 80 million in 2019 - ie. 24% of the 2019 number. It had a bit over 22 million in 2020 (so 2021 was 12.3% below 2020). CEO John Holland-Kaye did not expect a return to the level of passengers in 2019 for many years, perhaps by 2026. Even that is very uncertain.
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European airlines having to fly empty flights due to continuing slot use requirement
During the height of the Covid pandemic, the EU suspended the normal slot allocation process for airlines, that had forced them to use at least 80% of their slots - or lose them. The aim is to ration space at busy airports. During Covid, most airports had below half as many flights as in 2019. Now the EU has decided to start reinstating the slot use rules, and in December the European Commission set the threshold to 50% for the winter travel season. Lufthansa Group, which includes Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and Swiss said it would have to run18,000 unnecessary flights from mid-December to mid-March to comply. That is crazy in terms of carbon (and airline costs, for zero benefit). Lufthansa said it plans to cancel 33,000 scheduled flights by the end of March because of a slump in demand caused by Omicron. In the US, slot rules are still suspended. In the UK the partial suspension (50% use) continues until the end of March 2022. Greenpeace called the empty flights “absurd” and pointed to “a new low for the sector that is kept afloat with government support”.
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Aviation sector is hoping, unrealistically, that future “carbon capture & storage” will solve its CO2 problems
There is a presumption in all future climate scenarios, aiming to get to "net zero" by 2050 (or whenever) that "negative carbon technologies" will have to be used. It will be essential to try to remove some of the CO2 from the global atmosphere. Obviously, a more effective way to keep global CO2 to a lower figure would be to stop emitting it, over the next decade or two decades. But governments and businesses, including the aviation sector, are not keen on doing that; it would be bad for business. Even the most optimistic forecasts for the amount of carbon that could be captured by DACCS (Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage) would only be a tiny % of annual emissions, let alone the millions of tonnes emitted in the past. The technology is expensive and uses a great deal of energy. So far, the only carbon capture that has been profitable has been pumping the captured CO2 into depleting oil and gas fields, in order to get out more oil and gas (totally negating the purpose of capturing the CO2 in the first place). Aviation will want people to believe in the future magical abilities of this tech - people need to be very sceptical indeed. Beware dangerous greenwash.
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Covid caused a 71% drop in international flights for UK in 2021 – in future the aviation sector may be smaller
The Covid pandemic triggered a 71% drop in international flights in and out of the UK in 2021, says a new report m by aviation analytics firm Cirium. About 406,060 international flights operated from the UK in 2021 compared with 1,399,170 in 2019 before travel was restricted. UK domestic flights also fell by nearly 60%. Ryanair remained the largest airline in the UK, with over 100,000 UK flights. easyJet had over 82,000 flights. The busiest international route was between Heathrow and New York's JFK. 80% of routes were to European destinations. The director on Newquay airport expects that “the ‘old normal’ is not going to return” for airlines and airports, and it will be at least 5 years before the industry recovers to its 2019 size, if it ever does. The pandemic has made people far less care-free about air travel. He expects there will be much less business travel now that companies have become used to Zoom and Teams. Discretionary trips abroad such as stag parties might go to UK cities instead. And people will prefer package trips, protected by cancellation insurance, over independent travel.
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British Airways launches its Gatwick short haul cheap flights subsidiary, BA Euroflyer
British Airways is to have a new short-haul subsidiary at Gatwick, starting in March 2022. Tickets for the subsidiary, known as BA Euroflyer, have gone on sale, with 35 destinations initially. It will have three planes initially, in creasing to 18 by May 2022. The aim of BA Euroflyer is to try to remain competitive with Gatwick's dominant low-cost airlines. In March flights will go to Amsterdam, Larnaca, Paphos, Seville, Tenerife, and Verona - all just holiday destinations, with flights starting under £50. Then other holiday destinations will be added. According to the airline, from a passenger’s perception, there should be no difference when flying on mainline British Airways or BA Euroflyer. Just what the planet does not need; instead of reducing the demand for air travel, making unnecessary flights even cheaper.
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CAA allows Heathrow to increase passenger charge from £22 to £31.19 from January – to be reviewed again
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has allowed Heathrow to charge its airline customers more in the period from 1 January 2022, as an interim measure, for six months. Heathrow's current price control expires on 31 December 2021 and the final decision and licence modifications for a new 5-year control period (H7) will not be made and take effect until the summer of 2022. At present the airport can charge up to £22 per passenger, and it wanted to increase that to £43 in January 2022. The CAA now says Heathrow can charge £30.19 per passenger. The CAA says: "Once we have set the final price control for the H7 period, any difference between it and the holding price cap will be trued up or down." The rise to £31.19 is an increase of 37%, compared to the current inflation rate of 5.1%. Shareholders have received more than £4bn in dividends since 2012. Airlines are deeply opposed.