Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Virgin says it might return to Gatwick, especially for US routes
When the Covid pandemic began to hit air travel, the slot rules - which require an airline to use 80% of its slots at an airport - were suspended. That suspension has continued ever since, to avoid planes flying empty, just to keep a (valuable) slot. Gatwick is keen to have the slot rules suspension ended, so it can bring in more flights by Wizz, instead of slots being blocked by British Airways and IAG. Virgin decided to leave Gatwick in May 2020, as it could not make any money, but it kept its slots. Norwegian is all but defunct as an international airline, but held 10% of Gatwick’s slots before Covid. Those have been sold or leased back to easyjet. British Airways pre-pandemic was the second largest operator at Gatwick, with 17% of slots. It might, or might not, come back to Gatwick, after saying spring 2020 that it would leave. IAG could sub-let slots to its low cost airline, Vueling. Now Virgin is saying it might come back to Gatwick, as it is excited about the prospect of flights to the US returning, now Covid restrictions are eased. Things will change, if the slot waiver is ended, and both Virgin and British Airways would generally prefer to be at Heathrow, where they can make more money.
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Stay Grounded network say new aviation climate declaration fails to reduce sector’s future emissions
An aviation climate declaration launched at COP26 on 10th November has failed to place any firm limits on future airport expansion, or growth in aviation demand. As part of the new "International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition" (IACAC), member states that signed up have committed to working together, they say, to reduce aviation CO2 emissions in line with the aim to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C. But sustainable transport network Stay Grounded said the declaration will not substantially contribute to aligning the aviation sector with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit. The proposed techno-fixes (electric aircraft, hydrogen, biofuels or e-fuels) will not cut emissions, if the sector expands. As well as preventing the construction of more airport infrastructure, and measures to encourage behaviour change, there need to be taxes on jet fuel and bans on short-haul flights. Mira Kapfinger, of Stay Grounded said: "Far-off targets for 2050 are not worth the paper they are written on ... Relying on CORSIA to reduce flight emissions is like waiting for flying pigs. It simply does not work.... the commitments in the declaration are neither new nor ambitious”.
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HACAN calls for end to aviation greenwash and false “solutions”
Ahead of Transport Day (10th November) at COP26, community group HACAN were joined by a cross-party group of MPs and Peers outside Parliament to call for an end of greenwash from the aviation industry. Hacan said that instead of shifting responsibility to the international mechanism CORSIA, that heavily relies on greenwashed false 'solutions' such as offsets and so-called alternative fuels, Governments must take responsibility for aviation emissions in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). In a climate emergency the only thing we can do right now to cut emissions from flying is to fly less. Even with some of the techno-fixes the aviation sector hopes for, by 2050 it is likely to be adding about 12% of the 205 Giga-tonnes remaining global CO2 budget. The sector must not be allowed to continue growing, based on greenwashing claims about low-carbon fuels in future, which are highly unlikely to materialise on any large scale. Parliamentarians attending were Rupa Huq, Baroness Jones, Baroness Kramer, John McDonnell, Sarah Olney, David Simmonds, Andy Slaughter and Munira Wilson.
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Stay grounded protests across many countries, on 6th November, during COP26
There were numerous protests, timed to be during the Glasgow COP talks, on Saturday 6th November. The aim was to highlight the need to reduce the demand for flying, and the number of flights being taken, globally. Also to point out the deceptive, misleading "greenwash" being peddled by the aviation industry, and enthusiastically taken up by governments, especially the UK government. The industry is placing its hopes in novel techno-fixes (electric planes, hydrogen, new fuels made from wastes or from supposedly excess renewably generated electricity, in future). None of those can be scaled up to anything even faintly the scale of demand, especially as the industry is planning continued rapid growth, for several more decades. The greenwash is dangerous, as it gives people a false, unjustifiable, sense that they can fly "without guilt" as the sector has brilliant solutions to carbon emissions, just around the corner. The greenwash is intended to permit more "business as usual" flying, with no reduction. Details here of many of the protests, organised through the Stay Grounded network.
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FLY LESS campaign from Stansted Airport Watch
To coincide with the start of the COP26 international climate change summit in Glasgow, Stansted Airport Watch (‘SAW’) is launching its “Fly Less” campaign. Aviation currently accounts for around 9.4% of UK territorial carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions - about 38.5 MtCO2 in 2019 out of around 410 Mt CO2. On present trends aviation could be the largest single source of UK CO2 emissions by 2050. Stansted is (or was in 2019) the largest single source of CO2 emissions in the East of England. The Government’s independent advisor, the Climate Change Committee, has called for a slowdown in the level of air travel and a freeze on UK airport expansion until the aviation sector can show a significant reduction in its CO2 emissions. But so far the Government has rejected this call, or any attempts at behaviour change, and is instead putting its faith in technological solutions. SAW’s ‘Fly Less’ campaign will be publicised on its website and social media, supported by posters, banners and car window stickers. SAW will also be writing to the chairmen of the FTSE top 100 UK companies, encouraging businesses to play their part by reducing business flights, which emit far more carbon per seat than economy flights.
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Death knell for Heathrow’s 3rd runway as Ferrovial cuts off funding – and CAA blocks high passenger charge rise
Heathrow has been told by its regulator, the CAA, that it cannot raise its passenger charges for airlines by as much as it wanted. At present the airport can charge up to £22 per passenger, and it wanted to increase that to £43 in January 2022. But the CAA has said it will be capped at £24.50 to £34.40 for five years. - with an interim figure of £30 set for 2022. The CAA also reconfirmed its decision earlier this year on Heathrow's regulated asset base, (RAB) which determines how much money the airport can recover from its customers through charges. This will now rise by £300m, rather than the £2.3bn requested by Heathrow, which wanted to recoup its pandemic losses from consumers, but the CAA had refused. A final decision will be made in January. So Heathrow's finances are not looking healthy, and now their main shareholder, Ferrovial, has said it will not invest further in the airport, and is not happy about getting low returns. The withdrawal of support by Ferrovial could be the final straw for 3rd runway plans. Heathrow passenger numbers now are about 45% of the 2019 level, and the airport does not expect numbers to return to those levels until 2026.
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Vague hopes by Manchester airport for future supplies of low carbon fuels from Fulcrum NorthPoint
There is an enthusiastic story about Manchester airport hoping to be getting "up to 10% " of the fuel used by aircraft at the airport replaced with SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) within 5 years "of the Fulcrum NorthPoint facility becoming operational." Manchester Airport had about 196,000 flights in 2019 (and in 2017). Its carbon emissions were estimated to be about 3.6 Million tonnes of CO2 in 2017. As a quick, "back of the envelope" calculation, that would mean - if the number of flights returns to the level pre-pandemic in a few years - the airport would need over 1,100 tonnes of the SAF per year. But the company to supply the fuel has not yet built its facility. It is part of Essar Oil UK, which has owned the vast industrial site in Stanlow, Cheshire, for a decade. But Essar is grappling with a funding shortfall potentially running to hundreds of millions of pounds. Not a great start to embark on this novel fuel project, but hoping for the extensive funding the UK government plans to give companies that try to make "low carbon" jet fuel. The SAF is intended to have a "70% lower carbon footprint" than conventional fuel, and be made from non-recyclable waste, which would typically go into landfill." It is actually really hard to make on a large scale.
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Campaigners remain confident after Southampton Airport legal challenge refused
Campaigners against Southampton Airport's runway extension say they remain confident after a legal challenge was refused. GOESA Ltd, a company set up by those opposed to Southampton Airport's runway extension, submitted an application to the High Court for a judicial review in July this year. This came after Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) granted planning permission for the airport extension which proved controversial during the consultation process. An online fundraising page was set up to fund the review which raised over £60,000, but now, EBC has said that the High Court has refused the review of planning permission. Despite this though, GOESA Ltd has said that this is "not the end" and say that there are still chances to appeal this. They have to decide within the next seven days, whether they apply to have the matter renewed in open court. They are taking legal advice and that will be decided in the next few days. There is another stage in the appeal process. A second application for a judicial review was also made by Bournemouth Airport Ltd, but this has also been refused.
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Independent assessors for Manston expansion plans say there is no need for the extra air freight capacity
The Development Consent Order (DCO) for the re-opening and development of Manston as a freight airport was rejected by the High Court in February 2021. This was after Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, in July 2020 had decided to ignore the advice of the Planning Inspectorate (PI) in October 2019, that the DCO should be rejected. Grant Shapps said it should go ahead, but the court said there had not been enough detail for reasons to go against the advice of the PI. Grant Shapps then had to "re-determine" the DCO application, and people could submit reasons to the PI for why the airport proposal should be refused. A team was set up as "independent assessor" to investigate the justification for the airport's expansion, and report back to Mr Shapps. The team's report has now been published. It concludes that “the levels of freight that the Proposed Development could expect to handle are modest and could be catered for at existing airports ... Manston appears to offer no obvious advantages to outweigh the strong competition that such airports offer. ...the Applicant has failed to demonstrate sufficient need for the Proposed Development". Further submissions are welcomed until 19th November. Now 3rd December.
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Good Law project delays its JR of the ANPS, until Government finalises its “Jet Zero” Strategy in early 2022
The Good Law Project, with Dale Vince (Ecotricity) and George Monbiot, started a legal challenge to the government legal department, asking for the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) to be suspended and reviewed. The Supreme Court had ruled in December 2020 that the ANPS was legal, and that it had taken proper account of the climate impact of airport expansion. Today the Good Law Project has said that the Government has promised to consider whether to review the ANPS once it finalises its “Jet Zero” Strategy in early 2022. So it is prudent to delay the judicial review until the Government publishes this strategy. They say: "The evidence we’ve gathered shows that the Government’s current maths around aviation emissions doesn’t add up. And if they fail to match their climate rhetoric with action by refusing to review the outdated ANPS, we expect to bring a challenge next year." This is especially the case, as this year the government has included international aviation and shipping emissions in the Sixth carbon budget (2033 - 37) and pledged to cut UK carbon emissions by 78% by 2035.