Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Manchester Airport Enterprise Zone causing piecemeal environmental destruction of Green Belt countryside
The new Manchester Airport Enterprise Zone is causing the piecemeal environmental destruction of Green Belt countryside. There are local concerns that airport-centric urban sprawl is destroying green space and open countryside, and locking in reliance on fossil fuel intensive infrastructure. The development of an Enterprise Zone, link road and 9,000-space car park is proceeding apace in the face of resistance from local communities. Planning permission is being granted in a piecemeal fashion, so there is little publicity of, or opportunity to oppose, the overarching goal: increasing climate damaging transportation. Construction of a key component of the Zone, the World Logistics Hub, with 43 warehouses, office space and a 1,473 space car park has already begun. Earthworks, tree felling and installation of drainage are already under way, and wildlife and habitats are being destroyed. There are likely to be fewer new jobs than expected, as many will just move in from elsewhere for the tax breaks and subsidies. Government backing for the Enterprise Zone suggests a desperate shortage of business space in the area. In fact, there is a surfeit of empty offices, warehouses and paved areas. More detail from Rose Bridger.
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Berlin’s Schönefeld airport ‘to stay open’ as Brandenburg airport (at huge expense) not ready till 2015 at the earliest
Berlin’s old Schönefeld airport is likely to remain open as a destination for budget airlines despite a multi-billion airport being built next to it, at Berlin Brandenburg (BER), as the new international hub is too small. It is the latest in a long line of setbacks to hit the BER, which is over budget and behind time. It will have two runways. It is expected to open in 2015 at the earliest. Officially the cost of the airport is €4.3 billion, though initial cost estimates were €1.2 and it could cost up to €6 billion. Despite the huge cost, the airport will only have a capacity of 27 million passengers a year, so its ageing neighbour, Schönefeld, will need to stay open. The original plan had been for Schönefeld, which caters for budget airlines, to merge with BER. Keeping Schönefeld in operation would increase capacity by 7.5 million passengers a year and avoid further costs of building a new terminal. Earlier it had been expected that BER could be partly in use in 2014, with 10 planes per day, but that will not happen. The airport was initially intended to open in 2010 but the multiple delays have been due to difficulties concerning fire safety, the smoke exhaust systems and construction errors. Air Berlin is suing BER for damages due to the much delayed opening.
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Heathrow cutting 200 jobs (20% of total core staff) due to CAA restriction on landing charge rises
Heathrow Airport is planning to cut 20% of its core workforce despite turning its first profit since 2006 and said it is undergoing a “major” restructuring. Its full-year results statement showed it made a £426m pre-tax profit last year, up from a £33m loss previously, helped by the £1.5bn sale of Stansted in February 2013. Heathrow says it is making the staff cuts due to the CAA not allowing it to increase landing charges, though Heathrow can appeal till March 27th. These will be reduced in real terms by 1.5% below the rate of inflation every year until 2019. Colin Matthews said the cuts are likely to affect around 200 staff but no front-line roles, such as security, will be affected. Heathrow employs 7,000 people in total but 1,000 of those roles are part of its “central” head office structure, which is where the job losses are, partly due to having sold off its other airports. In 2013 Heathrow’s revenue rose 11.3%to £2.5bn, and it had 72.3 million passengers, though that is far below earlier forecasts for 2013 traffic. Excluding money from selling Stansted, Heathrow's EBITDA rose 23.1% in 2013 to £1.4bn. The number employed by Heathrow Airport Ltd in 2012 was 5,278 (compared to 5,265 in 2011 and 5,148 in 2010).
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‘Unclear whether government, Mayor or local authorities would pay EU air quality fines for London
Air quality experts and politicians have reacted to the EU’s decision to pursue legal action against the UK government for breaching limits for NO2 in 16 of 43 zones in the country and failing to reduce concentrations by the 2010 deadline. There are questions whether the UK government or local authorities would pay the £300 million fines that could be levied. If the government passes the fines on to local authorities, this will be harsh and counter-productive to good local air quality management, which is already struggling for resources at local level. With improvements to car engines, some reduction in NO2 is expected in coming years: "by around 2030 the Euro 6 [vehicle emissions standards] and subsequent standards will have brought compliance just about everywhere with NO2." An expert commentted: "...you are not going to improve NOx and NO2 unless you really target road transport in cities and towns. Nothing else is really going to deliver." London was singled out as having the highest levels of NO2 emissions of any city in Europe. Murad Qureshi thought at least a sizeable part of a possible EU fine would have to be paid by the Mayor of London. Air quality is poor around Heathrow.
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ANASE study on attitudes to aircraft noise to be updated to show real impact of Heathrow flight paths
The Sunday Times reports that on 26th February the researchers who worked on the ANASE (Attitudes to Noise from Aviation Sources in England) study of the effect of aircraft noise will publish an updated report. The 2007 ANASE was an expensive and extensive study, looking at what levels of aircraft noise annoyed people being overflown. It found that, contrary to the "prevailing wisdom" the widely used 57 decibel contour was not the actual threshold of community annoyance. In reality, much lower noise levels caused annoyance, and also upset and disturbed people. The research suggests that significant annoyance starts at about 50dB. The reality is that many areas (including Putney, Battersea, East Sheen, Barnes and Ealing), which are not included in the 57dB contour are badly affected by aircraft noise.The ANASE study was shelved, partly due to methodological criticisms. Now it is being updated and published by councils opposed to an increased number of flights over London, if Heathrow was to be allowed another runway. Researchers say subsequent European research into aircraft noise backs its initial ANASE findings.
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Huge protest in centre of Nantes against new airport – forceful police resistance; some rioting, violence and injuries
A huge protest took place in Nantes on 22nd February, against the planned new replacement airport to be built at Notre Dame des Landes, some miles to the north. The organisers estimated some 50 - 60,000 protesters, who came in from supportive groups from regions all across France. There are reported to have been 65 coach loads of protesters who travelled to Nantes to take part, and 520 tractors, brought by supportive farmers from surrounding areas. The protests were put down with considerable force by the police, using water canon, rubber bullets and tear gas. The issue has become very political in France. With elections coming up this year, the Prime Minister (and former Mayor of Nantes and ardent backer of the new airport) is thought unlikely to back down from pressing for the airport. However, it is not thought likely that there will be forceful evictions of the farmers and activists who are occupying the land allocated for the airport, called the ZAD - Zone à Défendre as it would be unpopular. An opinion poll found 56% of those surveyed were against the new airport. The courts have ruled it can go ahead, but there are appeals on ground of the law on water and on biodiversity.
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Partners Group including Strathclyde Pension Fund also bidding to buy Glasgow airport
Ferrovial has recently made a bid to buy Glasgow airport as well as Southampton and Aberdeen airports. Now Glasgow city council's pension fund - the Strathclyde Pension Fund (the wealthiest council pension fund in the UK) - is part of a bid consortium that is also bidding for Glasgow airport. The consortium includes Partners Group and Zurich Airport. Partners Group is a global private markets investment management firm. A decision by the Strathclyde Pension Fund group to try and buy Glasgow could spark a bidding war. The bid is supported by the Glasgow city council leader and the Renfrewshire council leader. If their bid was successful, public involvement in a takeover for Glasgow would place it in direct competition with Prestwick, which was bought by the Scottish Government last year. That could mean a political conflict between Labour-run Glasgow and the SNP administration at Holyrood. The Strathclyde Pension Fund has spread its investments across a wide range of areas and has a stake in Samsung and Apple, as well as property portfolio which includes a Wolverhampton shopping centre and an office block in Hong Kong.
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FT reports that uncertain privatisation of AENA casts doubt over its stalled Luton expansion plans
Spanish airport operator, AENA, bought Luton airport in summer 2013 from Abertis. AENA is one of the world’s biggest airport operators in terms of passenger numbers, and manages Spain’s major airports. It also owns minority stakes in 15 more airports around the world. The FT says that now their plans are in doubt and Luton has a question mark over its future. Luton is the UK's 5th largest airport in terms of passengers, and is the base for easyJet. AENA had plans to expand Luton, taking its annual number of passengers from around 9 million to 18 million - plans that have been fiercely opposed locally. AENA had plans to compete with French airport operator ADP, Germany’s Fraport and Singapore’s Changi. The FT says now AENA's future is unclear and whether government will allow it to be largely privatised. This is having an impact on its Luton plans. The Luton expansion is being held up, or is on a back burner. The privatisation is a political matter within the Spanish government, and whether it has to sell assets to rescue the nation's economy. The government hope to avoid selling much of AENA, and if it stays under state control, its Luton expansion plans may be scrapped.
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Redhill Aerodrome runway appeal, for a hard runway, dismissed by Planning Inspector
Plans to build a hard runway in place of its 3 existing grass runways at Redhil aerodrome have been refused by a planning inspector. The owners of Redhill Aerodrome, RAV, had wanted the hard runway in order to have aircraft movements all year, even in bad weather, and to increase the number of flights from 60,000 to 85,000 a year. Following last month's public inquiry, the planning inspectorate ruled the development was "inappropriate" and could "harm the green belt". Reigate and Banstead Council and Tandridge Council rejected the scheme last year, saying it was inappropriate development in Green Belt, so RAV appealed. Local residents groups and Surrey Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) were among objectors who gave evidence to the inquiry. Local Conservative MPs Crispin Blunt and Sam Gyimah lodged formal objections against the development, saying the economic case was weak and it would cause major detrimental impacts on the surrounding area. The airfield flooded as a result of heavy storms last month.
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Ealing Council Leader voices strong opposition to night flights: “One arrival before 6am is one too many”
Ealing Council have added their voice to the complaints about the recommendation buried in an appendix to the Airports Commission interim report that there could be double the number of Heathrow night flights as at present. Ealing Council is part of the 2M group, which is an all-party alliance of more than 20 local authorities concerned at the environmental impact of Heathrow expansion on their communities. Leader of Ealing Council and 2M spokesman, Cllr Julian Bell, said: “We shouldn’t have to dig deep into a technical document to find out increases in night flights are proposed." Ealing and the 2M group have fought for years for a ban on night flights, and do not find an increase acceptable. The proposal is one of the short or medium-term recommendations to make maximum use of the existing runways at Heathrow. Under a proposal called ‘early morning smoothing’, Heathrow would be allowed to land additional planes between 5am and 6am, which is classified as the night quota period. The aim is to minimise delays and could allow the airport to manage with one runway for arrivals between 6am and 7am.