Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
French court rules against environmental challenges by opponents of new Nantes airport
On 17th July the Administrative Tribunal of Nantes rejected all appeals by opponents of the new airport to be built at Notre Dame des Landes. The legal challenge was on two areas of environmental law, on destruction of wetlands and movement of protected species. It ruled that the project does not pose environmental concerns. This was one of the last legal confrontations between opponents and supporters of the transfer of Nantes-Atlantique airport to the village of Notre-Dame-des-Landes (building a new airport there instead, to be called L'aeroport du Grand Ouest). This battle has been going on since the plan was first proposed in 1967. Those wanting the new airport hope work could start very soon, but Europe Ecologie-Les Verts believe appeals are not yet completed and work on the airport cannot resume. The "zadistes" (ZAD - Zone À Défendre) have been occupying the site for 5 years, and farmers hostile to the project do not intend to give up. Opponents of the airport ACIPA and CEDPA) also intend to challenge with a prefectural order for the protection of the water vole. There are also problems of crested or marbled newts, great horned beetles and the floating plantain, an endangered water plant. In addition the CGT trade union is opposed to the new airport believing that modifying the old airport is a better option.
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easyJet agrees to bring forward modification of its A320s using Gatwick, to get rid of the “whine”
People living in parts of Kent and Sussex, near or under Gatwick approach flight paths, are hoping easyJet will finally do something about the awful whining noise their A320 series planes make. EasyJet has finally agreed to fix its fleet of Airbus A320 planes - which only takes a simple and inexpensive modification. The whine from older Airbus A320 planes is caused by the Fuel Over Pressure Protector (FOPP) cavities which can be easily fixed by retrofitting the planes with a simple piece of kit called a flow deflector. The plane noise problem has been particularly intrusive this year since a narrow flight path corridor for Gatwick arrivals, so noise is not dispersed by sharing the noise burden. EasyJet had said they would get their planes modified by 2018, but realising the fury and upset their company has caused, now say they will bring forward the timetable for the work by two years. EasyJet says by June 2016 around 100 planes will have been adapted and work is due to begin this November. The whole fleet of 197 aircraft will be fully retrofitted by March 2018. BA says it will modify its 130 older Airbus A320 planes from October 2015. People in Kent and Sussex are hopeful there will be an improvement, and before too long.
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Federal Court gives clearance for Munich airport 3rd runway, and environmentalists fight on
Munich airport, Germany's second largest by number of passengers, has now won approval for its plans to build a 3rd runway. A federal court rejected the remaining appeals against the plan. Munich airport currently serves around 40 million passengers a year and expects this to rise to about 58 million by 2025, so it is hard to see how it needs yet another runway. The most recent attempt to block the plan, after a decision in favour of it by a Munich court in 2014, was brought by a Bavarian environmental group, Bund Naturschutz, and 5 individuals. The Leipzig-based federal court rejected a similar complaint brought by local municipalities in February - now the court says the Munich court decision is fully binding and the runway can go ahead. In 2012 in a Munich referendum, a majority of residents opposed the plan. Bund Naturschutz called on politicians to uphold the popular vote from 2012 and said it would file a complaint with the European Commission for disregard of European laws on nature conservation. A Bund Naturschutz spokesperson said: "Neither Bavaria nor Munich needs the third runway. Lufthansa is the only one that will benefit." The airport is owned by the state of Bavaria, the German government and the city of Munich. Lufthansa uses Munich as its 2nd largest base after Frankfurt pushes for the expansion.
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Ryanair to bid for the 5 slot pairs at Gatwick that IAG has to give up, to take over Aer Lingus
The European Commission (EC) has approved International Airlines Group’s (IAG) acquisition of Aer Lingus, for €1.3 billion (£916 million, subject to British Airways surrendering 5 slot pairs at Gatwick. The EC said it required “significant concessions” on routes from London to Dublin and Belfast for the tie-up to go ahead and they wanted to be sure there would be enough future competition on the Irish routes, and also Dublin-Chicago. Ryanair has now said it will bid for the slots. Out of the 5 slots, 2 must be used for Dublin and one for Belfast and the other 2 can be used for either Dublin or Belfast. The Commission also insisted that Aer Lingus must continue to accept rival airlines’ connecting passengers at Amsterdam, Dublin, Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester and Shannon. The agreement by IAG is another step towards its take-over of Aer Lingus, as Ryanair has said it will sell its 30% share in Aer Lingus to IAG (and the Irish government will sell its 25% stake). Ryanair will get €400 for its share, and is considering how to spend it - probably on paying down planes (it ordered 200 planes last year), though a bit might go to shareholders.
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In initial response to Airports Commission, Gatwick says report wasn’t sufficiently balanced, fair or well evidenced
Gatwick Airport has produced a short (14 page) initial response to the Airports Commission recommendation of a Heathrow runway. The Commission rejected the Gatwick scheme as falling far behind Heathrow, with much lower economic benefits or benefits to the UK as a whole. Now Gatwick say: "We believe that the Commission’s report falls short of [being thorough, balanced, fair and well evidenced] in a number of very important respects. As a result, the many strengths of Gatwick and the many challenges of Heathrow are both underplayed, leading to a conclusion which we believe is wrong." Responding to this, the local community group GACC (the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign) said the flaws in Gatwick's case include the fact it caters largely for low-cost leisure flights, and will continue to do so; Gatwick likes to give the impression that the extra noise from a 2nd runway would not be a serious problem, but the anger of those on whom changed flight paths have been inflicted in the past 2 years shows that is not the case; and Gatwick ignore the huge social and infrastructure problems that would be caused by inwards migration, housing and urbanisation. GACC said: "It is time for Gatwick to give up flogging their dead runway horse and concentrate instead on being a better neighbour."
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Many thousands of determined opponents of new Nantes airport gather before final court decision
Over the weekend of 11th and 12th July there was a massive gathering at Notre Dame des Landes, in western France, to show the strong opposition to the building of a new runway there, to replace the current Nantes airport. This "mobilisation" is the 15th that the organisers, ACIPA, have put on over the years. It was estimated that perhaps 15,000 people attended over the two days. People at Nantes are very aware of the carbon and climate implications of a new airport, as well as serious local environmental destruction. They also link the Nantes campaign with other huge infrastructure projects across Europe, that would be damaging in terms of carbon emissions - such as a new runway in the UK. There is a desire to link up campaigns against such developments. The gathering combined a lot of workshops and education sessions with fun, with music, dancing and food -but with a very serious message. On Friday 17th July the Nantes Administrative Court will rule on the last 17 appeals by opponents of the airport project, on several environmental issues in contention with EU law, such as on water law and destruction of protected species. It is thought the court will rule against the opponents,but they will appeal. These legal issues are all that is holding up building of the airport.
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FT says after government statement on runway in late autumn, there will be a public consultation
It seems likely that the government will indicate its preference for the location of a new runway before Christmas (could be in November). A Whitehall source has indicated to the Financial Times that Patrick McLoughlin is then expected to set out a “clear direction” — rather than a hard and fast decision. That will then require a public consultation by the DfT. The DfT said: “The government is now carefully considering the evidence before making a decision and the secretary of state for transport plans to make a statement in the autumn to provide clear direction on the government’s plans ....Further consultation will be required as part of any decision-making process and to secure planning consents.” George Osborne indicated recently that there would be a consultation before the government made any final decision. He said: “Now we’ve got to consult people, let Londoners have their say as well and not prejudge that.” Maybe that's a way for the Cabinet to try to resolve their internal split on Heathrow. A Treasury spokesperson later said consulting widely with residents would be expected: “You would criticise us if we didn’t consult on a decision this big.”
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Heathrow wants “discussions with government” to negotiate runway conditions set by Airports Commission
The Airports Commission recommended a 3rd runway at Heathrow, subject to a number of conditions (noise, compensation, local consultation, air quality etc). But Heathrow is not keen on these conditions, and now says it is "seeking discussions with government " on them. John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow chief executive, said Heathrow "would have to consider" the demand from the Commission that there should not be night flights, and that there should be a legal prohibition on a 4th runway. The point of conditions is that they are, well as they say, conditions. But Heathrow says: “We will work with the government to make sure we have a solution that can be delivered. I am not saying today that we will accept all the conditions that have been put down." Airlines would not like night flights, as they make long haul routes less profitable and problematic. Heathrow's hope of getting conditions, all recommended for good reasons, removed or reduced will only increase the level of hostility towards the airport by its opponents. Whitehall sources say the government will state its preference for the location of a new runway before Christmas (could be November?) — but will then launch a fresh consultation.
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Hounslow Council leader says 9,000-home “Garden City” could happen even without Heathrow runway
The Leader of Hounslow City Council says a 9,000-home garden city could happen even without another Heathrow runway. He said a new Heathrow 'Garden City' in Hounslow is not dependant on a 3rd runway, and Hounslow Council remains opposed to the airport's expansion, with its official line being that it wants "a better not bigger Heathrow." There are fears, however, in some quarters that if a runway was approved, Hounslow (Labour led - since May 2014 Labour 49 seats, Conservative 11 seats) would support it and aim to obtain the maximum possible benefits. Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye has implied that Heathrow would develop the "garden city" or at least be its cause - regenerating area of West London. Hounslow Council has been working with Heathrow on proposals for the new development, though details of where it might be built have yet to be released and council leader Steve Curran said it was "very early days". Hounslow Council has to build 3,000 new affordable homes in the borough by 2018. That's before a new runway increases housing demand. Hounslow says the scheme is critically dependant on better public transport infrastructure.
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Queen could get £ millions to soundproof Windsor Castle from noise hotspot due to a 3rd Heathrow runway
Windsor Castle would suffer increased noise from a 3rd Heathrow runway and the Queen could be given £ millions to soundproof the 900-year-old landmark, according to Whitehall sources. The Queen could be the single biggest beneficiary of a compensation scheme aimed at mitigating the noise from a new runway. Heathrow Airport has agreed to pay £700 million towards a £1 billion compensation scheme to provide nearby residents with soundproofing. An official said: "...if they do need to insulate the Windsor’s against noise it will cost a fortune — potentially millions....They will end up spending more on compensation to the Queen than they spent in the past 10 years on noise compensation." And the taxpayer may have to foot much of the bill. A report by the DfT showed that Windsor Castle sits in a potential ‘island of noise’ which would be created by the 3rd runway. There would be an intersection of flight paths near Windsor, causing an extra noisy “hotspot” in the area. Heathrow's noise compensation scheme would pay for double glazing, loft insulation and acoustic boarding, for homes near the airport and under flight paths. Heathrow said more than 160,000 households could be eligible for noise insulation "including in Windsor".