Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
What Heathrow can do next following the PR coup of Question Time being held in Terminal 2…….
On Thursday 29th May, the BBC's "Question Time" was filmed in Heathrow's Terminal 2 building, which is due to open on 2nd June. In a blog, John Stewart (Chair of Hacan) takes a wry look at this PR coup of Heathrow in getting the Question Time gig, which can only be part of its runway bid. "Never mind the content. Admire the view. Set in a gleaming new Terminal 2. We are the UK’s airport of the future. The only possible location for a new runway. It is all part of Heathrow’s new PR strategy. " Heathrow's PR campaign is quite slick. John says: "No question Heathrow has upped its game since last time and setting the opponents of a 3rd runway a new challenge." As well as Question Time, there have been the adverts, the billboards and last year a week-long, gushing series from the BBC on the workings of the airport. Not to mention another documentary on the BBC next week looking inside BA. However, Heathrow knows the basic arguments against a new runway have not changed - and all the publicity strategy indicates the airport is not confident of victory.
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Residents arguing Chicago O’Hare noise has hurt property value win assessment appeal on local property tax
New flight paths begun in autumn 2013 to reduce airport delays and increase capacity, have generated record numbers of complaints about aircraft noise around O'Hare. Now several home owners have managed to get the amount they pay in local property taxes cut, because the value of their homes has been reduced - because of the flight path overhead. They have got reductions of around 8 - 12% depending on their location. The cuts in their tax bills are small, in relation to the amount lost in the fall of their property's value. But if the same cuts in tax were awarded to thousands of others, a dent would be felt in the amount of money being raised by the county authorities. A local politician, and academic, wondered whether this would require the taxes of others - not under flight paths - to rise, in order to make up the shortfall. The homeowners who sought the tax reductions are members of the "Fair Allocation in Runways" coalition, which advocates a more equitable distribution of runway use, to share out the noise burden. FAIR did not organize the property tax appeal effort, but they hope it will finally persuade local Mayor Rahm Emanuel to meet the group to discuss the problems. Studies are being done on past data of O'Hare's noise contour maps, house prices, (sale price and listed price) and time on the market before sale, in noise impacted versus non-impacted areas.
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Lydd airport plans first commercial flights to Italy, with its very short runway
Following the closure of Manston Airport with the loss of some 150 jobs, Lydd Airport has announced an expanded service. Its runway is only 1,505 metres, making it too short for many commercial airlines. However, Lydd says it is now starting flights to Italy. Now it has full terminal services including Customs, immigration and Special Branch, Lydd Airport hopes to attract more executive jets, helicopters and light aircraft and cargo. The airport says it now has regular flights to Verona and Naples run by Newmarket Holidays, as well as to Le Touquet, operated by LyddAir. The 3 departures (just 3 flights?) will take place on June 1, 14 and 22. Two of the flights will go to Verona, while one will fly to Naples. The flight on 1st June will be a Boeing 737. This is odd, as the airport's own website says it can only operate 737s without fare-paying passengers. They could only have private passengers, or the flights could be for maintenance. So what is going on? Local campaign group Lydd Airport Action Group (LAAG) have condemned the move, saying on their Facebook page that the aircraft will be “operating at the limit of its specification using the existing short runway.”
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Green Tribunal cancels environmental clearance of Aranmula Airport (Kerala) so construction work has to stop
Building work has started on a controversial airport at Aranmula, in Kerala, south India. It has been deeply opposed. Now the southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal has cancelled the environmental clearance given to the airport project, which means any construction has to stop. In November 2013 the Ministry of Environment and Forests gave permission for the greenfield airport, based on the recommendations given by its Environmental Appraisal Committee, which had rejected all the local and expert objections. It is now clear that the plans break many laws, including the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act 2008. Much of the area of the proposed airport is currently paddy fields and wetlands. It also consists of hilly areas and a stream on which local farmers depend for agriculture. The new report says that conversion of paddy fields would impact on the remaining wetlands, disturb the food chain, and accelerate the depletion of fish resources as well as other flora and fauna in the local river basin. Opponents have staged a non-violent "satyagraha" or permanent attendance at the temple, in protest - the 100th day was on 21st May. It has been attended by 100 - 800 people every day. Remarkable.
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Owner of Manston airport has plans to turn it into a “garden city”
Ann Gloag, the owner of Manston, is said to be considering turning the site into a "garden city." She is in talks with local landowners and “other interested parties” about the future of the site, for a mixed-use scheme (including some jobs) with thousands of homes. A garden city proposal could incorporate other schemes in the Thanet area, including Discovery Park. There is already unemployment in the Thanet area of east Kent, and income levels below the national average. Manston has been losing £10,000 a day and is probably no longer viable as an airport - its location is wrong. If the airport site is considered as a garden city, getting planning permission would be easier. George Osborne said in March that urban development corporations, which speed up planning and cut red tape, would be set up to drive forward selected garden cities. The government has announced plans for one at Ebbsfleet, Kent. The area already has problems with water supply, with some of the lowest levels of rainfall in the UK. One commentator says the expression 'Garden City' is a euphemism for a giant housing estate - not something the Thanet district needs.
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Heathrow’s hopes of ever more transfer passengers, to help keep its “global aviation crown”
A Telegraph article (by Natalie Thomas) is loud - as ever - in its calls for another Heathrow runway. The opening on 2nd June is the opportunity for a PR splurge by Heathrow on how it is losing out to middle eastern airports (which are not located in highly populated areas, or have flight paths over highly populated areas, like Heathrow) and how Heathrow is losing its "global aviation crown." The UK is no longer geographically in the right location to be the world's largest hub, and the UK is a democratic country, where major building projects have to be agreed. Natalie is enthusiastic about having as many transfer passengers as possible at Heathrow, to make it maximally profitable. "With a relatively small domestic market, Qatar’s aviation industry is built on international passengers using Doha as a transfer and stopover destination." Quite so. By contrast, London is a major destination in its own right, so the transfer argument is different. The article also enthuses about how the Queen's Terminal will be the home of the Star Alliance group of airlines, some of which "connect Britain to emerging markets" and these will be able to use transfer passengers more effectively" to "improve Heathrow’s competitiveness."
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Report on financial viability of Prestwick Airport to be kept confidential by government
A taxpayer-funded report on the future viability of Prestwick Airport will not be published, to protect commercially confidential information, despite at least £5 million of public money having been pledged to ensure its survival. This has led to accusations that ministers are expecting "blind faith" from the public when it comes to justifying spending taxpayers' money. The report follows a review that took 3 months. The airport has been losing millions of pounds under its previous owners. Although the full document is being withheld, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is expected to report key findings to the parliament's Infrastructure Committee in June. The Scottish Government bought Prestwick for £1 in November 2013. Labour's infrastructure spokesman has said it was unacceptable for the report to be kept secret, and the public deserves to know how the £5 million will be repaid. The CEO of Edinburgh Airport, Gordon Dewar has claimed Government ownership of Prestwick was distorting competition in the Central Belt of Scotland. . Glasgow Airport chiefs are also said to be uneasy over the arrangement. Prestwick lost £9.7 million last year.
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Chicago O’Hare airport new runway & flightpaths creating huge opposition by those now over-flown
Chicago O'Hare airport currently has many runways but not all can be used simultaneously. The airport has been building more, reducing the lengths of others, to get three parallel runways can be used together. There has been a lot of controversy about the plans over many years, with compulsory purchase of land, from residents who did not want to move. There is now huge protest against the noise. A group representing city and suburban home-owners, the Fair Allocation in Runways Coalition (FAiR), is asking the Chicago Aviation Commissioner to resign or for the Mayor to fire her. FAiR say there is "mounting frustration over the lack of response from the Mayor on possible remedies concerning "the ceaseless airplane noise'' since air-traffic patterns were changed last autumn.. The Aviation Commissioner has refused to consider altering the use of runways at night to spread out jet noise instead of concentrating it over one or two air corridors. FAiR says she has made up her mind that there will be no change at O'Hare no matter how many citizens demand change, no matter what solutions are proposed and no matter how devastating the impact of her decisions on families, children and seniors, and even entire neighbourhoods.
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Willie Walsh still wants 3rd runway – but “Heathrow is always going to be a 2-runway airport”
Interview in the Independent on Sunday with Willie Walsh. He wants a 3rd Heathrow runway, though he unwillingly accepts it will not happen. He says he stopped campaigning when “the Conservatives said they were not going to support it." ... "I accept it.... I’ve not done anything since.” Now, he says, there is “not sufficient political will – it’s seen as too risky to support a 3rd Heathrow runway. Even Labour, which did back the idea when in government, has changed. "Ed Miliband was the only member of the Labour Cabinet against the 3rd runway. Now he’s the leader”.... “It’s highly unlikely we will see a 3rd runway. Heathrow is always going to be a 2-runway airport.” We can, Walsh says, dismiss Boris Island for a start. “There’s no support for Boris island other than from Boris.” As for Sir Howard, it does not matter what he concludes, because “whatever he does will be handed over to politicians, none of whom are bound by his recommendations”. So with no new runways we just reach south east airport capacity and UK aviation stops growing? Yes, says Walsh.
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Francis Maude: No to a 2nd Gatwick runway
Francis Maude is MP for Horsham. He says his constituency benefits enormously from its close proximity to Gatwick Airport, which is a key part of the regional and local economy. He is adamant that Gatwick should flourish - but only as a single runway airport. Francis Maude is a supporter of GACC and chairs a group of local authorities and MPs who are all against a 2nd runway. He says another runway would require a new town the size of Crawley to be built in the area. There would be serious implications for already struggling local infrastructure. A 2nd runway would have huge environmental impacts with noise pollution the greatest. There would be the need to build many more houses in an area where local councils are already struggling to meet the targets. The paradox of that being the provision of these houses would ensure that many more families would be subject to the noise pollution. Francis says: "I will continue with other West Sussex MPS to ensure that the voice of local people is heard throughout the decision making process."