Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
What Heathrow’s 3rd runway proposal says on carbon emissions and air quality (very little)
Just taking the parts on carbon emissions and air quality from Heathrow's promotional document for its 3rd runway, the claims can be seen to be ambitious, or perhaps unrealistic. Tellingly they forget to mention carbon emissions in the press release, other than to say there is one of their 10 "commitments" (no indication how these are to be enforced) that they will "Keep CO2 emissions within UK climate change targets". This appears to be largely on hopes of more efficient operation, plus planes as yet unbuilt, carbon trading systems as yet not in existence, and new fuels (they don't actually mention biofuels), which also do not exist. On local air quality standards, which the Heathrow area currently often breaches, Heathrow says it wants a local congestion charge to reduce vehicle journeys, a lot more public transport (paid for by taxpayer?) and another commitment (enforcement?) to "Increase the proportion of passengers using public transport to access Heathrow to more than 50%". They also depend on road vehicle engines in future emitting less NO2 than at present.
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Heathrow publishes glossy 48 page document promoting its north-west 3rd runway plans
Heathrow airport has released a glossy 48 page document, for the public, promoting its north-west runway option. The document is very high on spin, aspiration, laudable future hopes and intentions of all sorts - but very thin on any detail of how these might realistically happen. Wishful thinking, writ large. For instance, on carbon emission, there are hopes of huge cuts through aircraft not yet invented, fuels also not yet in existence, and carbon trading - not yet in existence. Heathrow makes 10 commitments, but gives no detail about time-scale or who would enforce these commitments, or what would be the penalty for failing to deliver them. There are hopes of better air quality near the airport, 100,000 new jobs, £100 billion (no time scale given - probably over years ....) to the UK economy, and a lot on listening to the public. There are some very carefully chosen sentences about the increase in aircraft noise and numbers affected. Heathrow says it will reduce aircraft noise etc ...."by encouraging the world’s quietest aircraft to use Heathrow, routing aircraft higher over London, delivering periods with no aircraft overhead and allocating £250m to provide noise insulation." .
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Gatwick chairman says 2nd runway would benefit UK by just £667 million per year
The day before Heathrow will publicise its runway plans, the Chairman of Gatwick has done his bit for Gatwick's PR. He has told the Telegraph that he claims the economic benefits of choosing Gatwick's 2nd runway plans over Heathrow expansion would be £40 billion over the next 60 years. (That is a very tiny sum indeed per year. It is about £0.67 billion ( ie.£667 million) /year benefit .... about £13 per passenger ( with 50 million passengers)? The alleged Gatwick benefit is massively eclipsed by the tourism deficit in 2012 of some £13.8 billion per year link to which Gatwick contributes heftily). Sir Roy says (which is quite true) that Heathrow is a “politically toxic” monopoly and he obligingly sets out a lot of good reasons why a new runway should not, and cannot, be built at Heathrow. Heathrow retaliates by saying their new runway would make air fares cheaper ... on and on it goes. Who can envy Sir Howard Davies his job? Sir Roy McNulty of course conveniently ignores the estimate by KPMG link for the Airports Commission that a new Gatwick runway would need as much as £17.7 billion in public funding, much of it stumped up by people who do not even fly, or use Gatwick. Kinda negates the alleged benefits.... .
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Heathrow plans £550m sweetener which it hopes will head off opposition to 3rd runway
Heathrow airport says 950 homes in the Harmondsworth area would be demolished (compulsory purchase) if it got its north-west 3rd runway option. The media are talking about Heathrow offering substantial compensation for 750 homes. Link Heathrow is saying it will also pay large sums for sound insulation from a £550m fund and it would spend at least £250m on soundproofing homes and schools – compared with only £30m it has spent n the last 20 years. If Heathrow paid out at the level Gatwick has offered - £1,000 equivalent to Band A Council Tax - to each household within the 57dB contour, it would be about £245 million per year. However much sound insulation is put in, or however many financial sweeteners, the noise is still heard if the windows are open or if people are outdoors, eg in the garden. Heathrow is still trying to work out which is less unpopular - giving more noise compensation to fewer people, or less compensation to more. John Stewart, Chair of Hacan said of Heathrow's money offer: "Their newfound generosity is a clear sign that they are still not confident that they can get a third runway approved, agreed and built."
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Heathrow hopes to buy off Harmondsworth with about £320,000 per property demolished
Heathrow is to spend hundreds of millions of pounds in an attempt to buy off local opposition to a proposed 3rd runway, with plans to use a massive new fund to compensate homeowners and insulate homes and public buildings against aircraft noise. Heathrow knows noise is a key reason why its runway is politically toxic. It also knows the bad publicity of destroying Harmondsworth and Sipson, and making other areas un-liveable. Now - publicising its runway plan tomorrow - Heathrow is proposing to pay the market price, unblighted, of homes plus 25% and the costs of legal fees, moving costs and stamp duty of buying a new home. For a £250,000 property, homeowners would receive £312,500 compensation, plus £7,500 stamp duty costs and legal fees. [About £320,000 each - for a £250,000 house. ie £304 million for the 950 houses Heathrow would demolish]. This of course does not cover homes nearby, where life would become unpleasant. Heathrow is planning another public consultation in July to decide how the money should be divided up. There might also be more money for noise insulation in areas beyond the usual"noise contour" (57dB) and help for schools.
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Heathrow ads plastering English county names over the globe deemed bad taste (at best)
Heathrow has a new variant of its advert, showing a map of the world, and a slogan implying that Heathrow is essential for travel anywhere outside the UK. The latest variant of the map is odd. In place of the names of countries, Heathrow has replaced them with the names of UK counties, or even things like "M4 corridor" (repeated many times), "The City", Canary Wharf (many times) and the Western Isles, as well as "Devonshire" (sic), Cornwall, Shetland etc etc. Much of central Africa is shown as "South Yorkshire" and much of South America as "Cambridgeshire". India is portrayed as "Clwyd". And so on. This is intended - by the bright ad-man responsible - to indicate "If we want growth in the future, we need to keep Britain firmly on the map." That, it says, means Heathrow. However, there is concern about the colonial over-tones of the advert, and it is being criticised as insensitive and patronising. One commentator writes: "I’m sure all they wanted to do was create a quirky advert with a patriotic theme. Basically, they missed the mark."
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Heathrow suggests congestion charge for vehicles – to try and keep within air quality limits
Heathrow will announce its north- west runway plan on Tuesday 13th May. They have no interest in the Jock Lowe Heathrow Hub option. Heathrow is aware that as well as noise, air pollution is a show - stopper issue for their hopes of a new runway. Hence they are now suggesting to the Airports Commission that there should be a congestion charge for people travelling to Heathrow by car - after the public transport has been set up (largely at public expense). Some of the money raised may go towards public transport. Heathrow is trying to make out there will not only be no more noise caused by a 3rd runway, but no more road vehicles than now. They depend on emissions standards for NOx for new cars becoming tighter in future. Expansion of Heathrow would mean massive road congestion in the area. The Standard reports that Heathrow is moving its planned north-west runway slightly south, in order to avoid the M25 and M4 junction. To make way for the new runway to the north west of the airport, Heathrow will build a 600-metre tunnel taking traffic under the M25. A tunnel would run alongside the motorway - and be part-funded by Government.
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French airports delay the fight against atmospheric NOx pollution from APUs
The yearly report for 2013 by the French Authority for Airport Nuisance Control (ACNUSA) points out the delay of French airports on controlling air pollution. The Authority suggests that French airports improve their air quality ot meet European standards. ACNUSA wants restriction of the use of Auxillary Power Units (APUs) that consume a lot of aviation fuel, and produce a lot of air pollution, while planes are on the ground, as well as being very noise. The Directorate General for Civil Aviation now has 6 months to inform the authorities about its decision on APUs. There are other means by which aircraft ventilation systems etc can be operated on the ground, other than by use of APUs - eg by fixed electrical ground power. Heathrow airport's air quality strategy shows how attempts are being made to cut the amount of NOx produced by APUs and they say this cut the amount of NOx emitted by 35 tonnes between 2008 and 2010.
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Boris spends £90,000 on architects to draw up plans to build over Heathrow site
Boris Johnson , through TfL, is paying 3 architectural firms £90,000 to draw up plans for new homes on the site of Heathrow airport despite there being no plans to demolish it and City Hall having no control over its future. The Mayor wants to replace Heathrow with a new airport in the Thames Estuary though his schemes have neither the support of the UK coalition Government, which controls aviation policy, nor many major airlines. The Airports Commission is currently considering whether a Thames estuary airport is sufficiently viable to be consulted on in the autumn (along with Heathrow and Gatwick options ). Despite the lack of control over aviation policy and without backing for his scheme, Boris has instructed TfLto draw up proposals for increasing runway capacity. Each architect firms will be paid £30,000 for their work , to "provide designs that cover several options for redevelopment of a site that could potentially support 90,000 new jobs and provide homes for 190,000 people.” Up to April 2014 Boris had spent £3 million on promoting his estuary schemes , and that then rose to £5 million. .
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Local elections 2014: City Airport focus of hustings for prospective Newham councillors
London City Airport will be the focus of an election hustings on 12th May, 10 days before the local council election in Newham. The husting will be attended by representatives of all parties standing in Newham. The expansion of City Airport is under consideration, with a decision due to be made by Newham Council this summer. John Stewart, the chairman of HACAN East, which has oranised the meeting, said: “There is much concern about the continuing expansion of the airport, not just amongst Newham residents but much further afield. The large jet planes now using the airport are causing noise problems for people living many miles from the airport. This public meeting will be a chance to question budding politicians.” The hustings will take place at Britannia Village Hall, West Silvertown, at 7.30pm