Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Study done for Airports Commission shows 3rd Heathrow runway could place thousands more children at risk of sleep, reading and memory problems
The Teddington Action Group (TAG) has written to all headteachers in London to alert them to the findings of a report published by the Airports Commission (1st July), admitting that thousands of extra children could experience sleep, reading and memory problems as a result of a 3rd runway at Heathrow. The TAG letter highlights the findings of the report "Aircraft noise effects on health", by Dr Charlotte Clark of Queen Mary University of London. This points to evidence of the health and educational effects on children of aviation noise. These include: sleep disturbance and changes in sleep structure; decreased quality of life; and decreased reading performance. The report estimates that an additional 24 schools will suffer from aircraft noise above the maximum levels recommended by the WHO if a 3rd runway is built, placing thousands of extra children at risk of decreased educational attainment. TAG said parents would be concerned about the report's findings, and how little weight was put on this issue by the Commission. The first part of the report is a review of the evidence on the effect of aircraft noise on health including psychological health; the second part deals with the effects of aircraft noise on children’s cognition and learning. and the implications for the proposed runway schemes.
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Stansted Airport announces consultation on concentrating departure routes – ends 27th November
Stansted Airport has launched a public consultation on a new take-off procedure that the airport says will "reduce aircraft noise for more than 4,000 people living near the airport." The new performance based navigation procedure (PBN) uses GPS technology that enables aircraft to fly flight paths more accurately. [This means more concentrated, narrow flight paths - so a smaller number of people are over-flown, but they get far more planes . The effect has been, at other airports, to make the noise intolerable for a minority of people, whose health and quality of life can be adversely affected. The airlines and the airports like the PBN system, as it can lead to fuel savings and therefore greater profits. However, this can be at the expense of those adversely affected under the newly narrowed flight routes]. Stansted says results from a trial on two of the airport’s existing departure routes showed that 85% fewer people were directly overflown by aircraft using the new procedure. [ie. concentrated, narrow flight paths]. The airport has to consult, before submitting the changes to the CAA for approval. Stansted hopes it will not get too much negative feedback. Unless there is a considerable level of public opposition, the flight path changes will become permanent.
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Protest by “Heathrow Homeless” on Bank Holiday Monday, to deliver runway to airport bosses
The proposed north-west runway at Heathrow would mean the compulsory purchase of 750 homes, and the eviction of their residents. Another 3,000 homes may be bought up by the airport, as they would be too unpleasant to live in. Map. The Heathrow Villagers affected are understandably highly anxious, depressed, angry and desperate at the prospect of losing their homes, their communities, and areas where they may have lived and raised families over many decades. On August Bank Holiday Monday a group set off on a coach trip to express their fears and their outrage at the prospect of the demolition of their homes. They went first to the house of Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye (who was out), and then the constituency office of the Conservative Party in David Cameron's constituency, and then the home of Matt Gorman, Heathrow’s Sustainability & Environment Director. They laid out a fake plastic runway in his drive, in the pouring rain. The protesters felt their action was justified as there are no plans to create new housing for displaced people; no schemes have been put into legal documents; no support is planned for tenants made homeless. These are issues that need to be addressed BEFORE a decision is made on Heathrow expansion
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Alex Salmond says 3rd Heathrow runway is for the benefit of London and SE, to the detriment of Scotland
Alex Salmond, the former First Minister of Scotland, speaking on the subject of Heathrow expansion, said that UK Governments have a long history of dressing up London investment as being of equal benefit to the whole nation. He is not persuaded that the Treasury is particularly interested in benefiting Scotland. There is evidence that public spending in previous decades, while supposedly UK-wide, is in reality aimed at helping London and the south of England. Some examples given are the redevelopment of docklands, the Jubilee line extension, and concentrating defence spending, procurement, and the civil service firmly in the south. Alex Salmond says that much of this type of spending was omitted from all official accounts of “identifiable public spending” and it still is. But public spending in Scotland was routinely described as a “subsidy.” He says the proposed Heathrow runway would be to the potential detriment of Scotland, which is facing all of the pain and none of the gain. He wants to boost direct Scottish flights to and from international destinations for the benefit of travellers, tourism and Scottish exporting industries. And he wants APD cut in Scotland, reducing the need to fly via London at all.
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Canadian Borealis Infrastructure (Channel Tunnel rail owner) and German Allianz (insurer of Thames Tideway tunnel) consortium interest in London City Airport
A Canadian pension fund that co-owns the Channel Tunnel rail link has joined forces with the German insurer behind the Thames Tideway Tunnel (super sewer) project to enter the £2 billion bidding war for London City Airport. GIP announced at the start of August that it is selling. Borealis Infrastructure, which manages investments for the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, is understood to have teamed up with Germany’s Allianz to make a consortium approach. They are rivals to buy the airport, including another Canadian investment giant, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), which has partnered with the sovereign wealth fund of Kuwait and Hermes to submit an offer for the airport. Australia’s Macquarie is also thought to be considering a consortium bid. Borealis and Allianz are already large investors in British infrastructure, and they have worked together on transactions, including a huge deal to buy RWE’s Czech gas pipeline business and the company that owns German motorway services. Some bankers reckon £2 bn is a top-end valuation for the airport but feasible given the current frothy nature of the market for infrastructure assets.
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Luton Airport wants to relax aircraft noise violation limits as it starts expansion programme
Luton Airport has submitted an application to 'simplify' noise limits as it starts its expansion programme. The airport has asked its owner, Luton borough council, to change a condition on the planning permission it granted in 2013, to lessen stringent noise limits. St Albans district council has been warned in an officer’s report that this change would “increase noise over and beyond levels that were previously considered unacceptable”. Luton Airport is worried it will struggle to meet one of the conditions attached to its approval, and that airlines found exceeding noise levels will face more penalties very frequently - day and night. Within 6 months of starting its expansion - to ultimately nearly double passenger numbers - the airport is supposed to reduce noise from all aircraft, to lessen the impact upon neighbouring residents. Instead of the condition placing a limit over all 24 hours of the day and night on noise levels generated by all aircraft., Luton wants the reduction to affect planes flown overnight only - between 11pm and 7am. The report by the St Albans council officer says there are already planes exceeding current noise limits. Luton Council has yet to decide on the application.
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Gatwick announces “independent review” of Westerly Arrivals due to the extent of opposition to changed flight paths
Due to the level of disturbance, upset and anger for miles around Gatwick, from increased aircraft noise, narrowed and altered flight paths, Gatwick's Chairman, Sir Roy McNulty, has commissioned an "independent review" of air traffic, which will focus on Westerly Arrivals (ie. planes arriving from the east, to the airport, when there are westerly winds). The review will be led by Bo Redeborn, who for many years was Principal Director of ATM for EUROCONTROL. Gatwick airport says Mr Redeborn "will be assisted by a small independent review team which has been tasked with ensuring the involvement of local communities most affected." The review is to look at whether, for westerly arrivals: "Everything that can reasonably be done to alleviate the problems which local communities are raising is in fact being done, whether this involves action by the airport or by other parties most closely involved – NATS, CAA, DfT or the airlines." And if Gatwick's approach to providing "information to the local community and for handling complaints are fully adequate for the task." Thousands of people do not believe Gatwick is succeeding on either. The review is to begin on 1st September 2015. It may end in November, but may be extended if more consultation is needed. There will be a review of Easterly Arrivals later on.
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About £85 million spent to update Heathrow tunnels and reinforce them against heavy A380s above
The main tunnel into Heathrow airport terminals was built in the 1950s, to the standards of the time. The runways to over it. Now with better safety standards needed in case of fire, and with heavier planes overhead, with aircraft like the A380, the tunnels need to be refurbished and strengthened. This work is costing about £85 million, which is about 10 times the cost of their initial construction. Work is being done at night, keeping one tunnel open. The work is due to finish in about February 2016. Presumably - if Heathrow was to get its north west 3rd runway and the M25 had to be tunnelled underneath it - the same quality of tunnel with extra strength to withstand heavier planes has to be incorporated.The Airports Commission considered the cost of surface access improvements for the Heathrow runway would be about £5.7 billion (the cost of the M25 tunnelling is an unspecified part of that total). Heathrow airport is not willing to pay those costs, and wants the taxpayer to bear the financial burden.
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Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition to a Heathrow runway likely to lead to internal Labour party disputes
Jeremy Corbyn - who might become leader of the Labour party - has come out against a 3rd runway at Heathrow. The Labour leadership favourite has indicated in an interview with the FT that under him, the party would not support expansion at Heathrow. He said: "I think the third runway is a problem for noise pollution and so on across west London…I also think there is an under-usage of the other airports around London. I’d vote against it in this parliament." If he does become leader (decision on 12th September) this would represent a U-turn from the party’s current stance of supporting the runway, if certain conditions are met. Corbyn’s opposition to a Heathrow runway will have an impact on the London mayoral race, as two Labour candidates are in favour of it, and two against. Tessa Jowell, the favourite to win the nomination, would find herself at odds with her party’s leadership on Heathrow. There are also plenty of moderates in the party who would also rebel against Corbyn. But airports are purely a lobbying issue for mayoral candidates — they have no actual power over the decision. It is not yet known if there will be a parliamentary vote on a runway, though it will require a lot of public funding (directly and indirectly for years). David Cameron will decide by November whether to accept the Airports Commission recommendation of Heathrow, and if Labour now votes against it, that could fatally undermine the project.
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15 routes to small airports short-listed to apply for taxpayer subsidy over three years
The Government invited airports and airlines to bid for state funding to set up routes, which would not otherwise be profitable. This is only permitted under EU law under certain conditions. In March the DfT published the details of 19 bids it had received during the initial application stage for funding from the Regional Air Connectivity Fund. The funding is available for new routes for regional airports which handle fewer than 5 million passengers a year, and they have to demonstrate that the route would be commercially viable after 3 years. The government hopes that smaller airports will improve connectivity, increase trade and help to create new jobs in their regions. Bids from 15 smaller airports across the "Northern Powerhouse," of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are now to be considered on the short-list for the state funding. Patrick McLoughlin said aviation is one of the UK’s economic success stories and our investment ensures it is shared out across the whole country. The shortlisted routes include Dundee-Amsterdam, Doncaster Sheffield-Frankfurt and Newquay-Leeds. The government expects to spend £56 million of taxpayers' money on this over three years.