Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Responding to the Airports Commission’s interim announcement, campaigners vow to fight any expansion at Heathrow and at Gatwick
The long-awaited interim report from the Airports Commission has now been released. After leaks that Heathrow had been the main choice for another runway, this was confirmed. The shortlist sets out 3 main options: the north west runway at Heathrow, (not demolishing Sipson, but putting it right under the flight path); the northern runway option of the Heathrow Hub concept, which had suggested two runways, built west of the existing ones; and a second runway at Gatwick. Stansted is ruled out. Most Thames estuary options are ruled out, but the Isle of Grain proposal will be given further consideration and is not yet "ruled in or ruled out". The Commission will be deciding over the next 18 months on whether the runway should be at Gatwick or at Heathrow. There is already fury over much of west London, that people face not only uncertainty for the next year and a half, till the Commission's final report in summer 2015, but also the nightmare of a massive increase in the number of flights. The announcement will act as the trigger to 18 months of intense campaigning against Heathrow expansion, and against Gatwick expansion. John Stewart, chair of HACAN, said that at Heathrow “The scale of the opposition will be so great that we believe that they are politically undeliverable and should have been dropped at this stage.”
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“Back to the Heathrow barricades as government gets ready for an airport U-turn”
Those who fought the plans for a 3rd Heathrow runway only 3 - 4 years ago have not gone away. The young environmental campaigners, who care passionately about the world's future climate and their future, are deeply concerned about the climate implications of another runway. They know that ensuring the UK meets its target of cutting CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050 will be virtually impossible if any of the new runway options proposed by Sir Howard Davies are taken up. There really is no airport capacity crisis. An activist summed it up as: "The truth is that Heathrow has long been Europe's biggest hub airport. Already more passengers fly in and out of London than any other city in the world, and the airport has more flights to the top business destinations than any other in Europe. A [recent] study ....showed that 9 of the 10 top destinations served by the airport are short-haul. Plenty of capacity could become available if we moved most of these journeys to alternative and less polluting methods of travel, such as rail on routes from London to Paris and Edinburgh, which are the fifth and sixth most popular Heathrow destinations." No new runway is needed - certainly not in the short term. He adds that they are "wiping the dust off our d-Locks. Thousands of climate change protesters are on alert. Here we go again."
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Heathrow residents to demand financial compensation for impact of Airports Commission report on their house prices
People with homes near Heathrow will press for financial compensation if the Airports Commission announces on 17th that they are backing a new Heathrow runway. As the Commission is not due to report till summer 2015, at the least they face blight and an impact on their house prices over the next 18 months, while they are held in limbo. Anti-Heathrow campaigners will appeal to Sir Howard Davies, chairman of the Airports Commission, to ensure homeowners receive financial support for the uncertainty and potential damage that the 17th December announcement may cause. The leak of the report suggests the Commission favours first one runway, and also a second runway at Heathrow. That would mean a large number of people across west London affected by one or other proposal. The issue of blight and house prices is key for thousands, let alone the threat of compulsory purchase and demolition. Boris Johnson has accused the Prime Minister of using the Commission just “to provide cover for a U-turn on Heathrow” and he continues to fiercely oppose Heathrow expanding.
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Speculation that Airports Commission interim report may say need for new runway not urgent – not before 2030
There are now suggestions that the Commission's interim report, to be announced by Sir Howard Davies on 17th, will downplay the urgency of the alleged airport capacity problems, and may look instead at the possibility of a new runway being in place as late as 2030. The Observer reports that Government sources said that they expected Davies to say that, while extra capacity will be needed in time, there is no "crisis" yet. The Tories would be relieved if Davies were to downplay the urgency of the problem, as they are worried about their electoral chances in west London, having clearly said at the 2010 election: "No ifs, no buts, no 3rd runway". Heathrow is not losing out on flights to key destinations, despite the propaganda that it is. Even the 2013 DfT forecasts of passenger demand show there is no shortage in capacity for years ahead, and no need for a runway before 2030. Lord Adonis, who is heading Labour's economic growth review, has said the final report by the Airports Commission should be published earlier than 2015. - as people affected by its proposals have a right to know. The Adonis Growth Review is meant to be setting out an agenda for change to revitalise the UK economy by innovation and growth.
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Stansted airport owners would question the integrity of Airports Commission if Stansted not on the shortlist
The Sunday Times says that the owners of Stansted airport, the Manchester Airports Group, are concerned by the leaks that have circulated in the past week, that a runway at Stansted is not on the short list. The Sunday Times says MAG will demand a full analysis of how the Airports Commission came to their decision, how independent the process has been, and they will want to see all the methodology of how the decision was reached. They would question the integrity of the process, if only Heathrow is selected as the runway location. MAG claim a new Stansted runway could be built for £4 billion, while a new Heathrow runway would cost £14 - 18 billion. Meanwhile, Stansted's owners are just working to build its passenger numbers back to where they were 7 years ago. With the airport currently operating at only half its permitted capacity a 2nd runway is not commercially viable, and it would be completely unacceptable to local communities on environmental grounds. This challenge by MAG is strangely ironic considering the legal challenge by Stop Stansted Expansion, against the Commission, due to potential bias because of the involvement of MAG's Geoff Muirhead in the process.
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Zac Goldsmith warns Cameron that going back on his promise on Heathrow would never be forgiven in west London
Zac Goldsmith. the Conservative MP for Richmond Park and North Kingston, has said the main party leaders should "come clean" about the expansion of Heathrow. He also questioned the independence of the Airports Commission's interim report, to be published on 17th. The Conservative Party insisted the Commission's report was independent - but Zac said: "It looks very much like George Osborne in particular has been knocking it about in the last few days so that what finally emerges on Tuesday will not just be about Heathrow expansion. We will have a few other synthetic options thrown in as well just to enable the government to maintain that ambiguity, cynically I believe, until after the next election." Zac also said that David Cameron himself has to think very carefully about what he says on Heathrow. "Politically a U-turn on this issue would be catastrophic for him. You have to remember it wasn't just a few party speeches, David Cameron went to every single constituency affected and stood up and said 'no ifs, no buts, there will be no Heathrow expansion'." If Cameron went back on this promise it "would be an off-the-scale betrayal and he will never be forgiven in west London".
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2nd Gatwick runway could ‘spell the end’ for Hever Castle as a tourist attraction due to the relentless aircraft noise
A 2nd runway at Gatwick could “spell the end” for one of the area’s top tourist attractions, Hever Castle, which was the home of Anne Boleyn. The castle's chief executive Duncan Leslie fears the increase in planes overhead could ruin the historic castle and gardens, due to the relentless, almost non-stop noise. To make the situation still worse, planes enter the airport's ILS landing system close to Hever, and tend to come up into it from below, with extra engine noise, especially if simultaneously making a turn. Duncan Leslie explained that when visitors come to rural attractions they are expecting a degree of peace and tranquillity. However, with the flight path for Gatwick - just some 13 miles away - over the castle and its grounds, visitors are being deterred. Already putting on outdoor theatre is almost impossible, as the plays are interrupted every couple of minutes. A group of Chinese tour operators visiting Hever had said they were astonished that the Government allowed aircraft to fly low over Hever. A high proportion of Hever's visitors are from overseas. Mr Leslie said: "If our internationally popular tourist attractions become noise ghettoes, it does not matter how big the airports are, we will not get more tourists coming here." Mr Leslie has asked his local council, Sevenoaks, to oppose Gatwick's plans for a 2nd runway.
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Manston owner Ann Gloag brings in Alastair Welch to work with Charles Buchanan to try and turn it round
Back in July, in a surprise move, Southend's managing director Alastair Welch, who led the airport since before the Stobart Group bought it for £21 million in 2008, left at the end of July. Now failed Manston airport, recently bought by Ann Gloag for £1, has taken Alastair Welch on to work with Charles Buchanan to try and breath some life back into it. Ms Gloag said: “As the new owner of Manston Airport, I am ready to work on investigating opportunities for growth at Manston. I have over 30 years experience in the transport industry and will use that expertise as best as I can to optimise both freight and passenger growth at Manston." Mr Welch worked for BAA at Heathrow and Stansted before Southend. He said “For the airport to thrive and fulfil its potential, it is vital that we create an environment where new partners are attracted to do business at Manston." However, at present all it has is a twice daily KLM flight to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
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Heathrow airport plans in relation to the reservoirs that supply part of London’s water
Plans drawn up by Heathrow airport, or others, to show indicative locations for new runways to the south and west show them in the areas where reservoirs are now. There are the Queen Mother reservoir; the Wraysbury; the King George VI; and the Staines reservoirs. Together they are an important water resource for London, for which water requirements grow each year as the city's population increases. There are huge technical problems in building a runway across part of an important reservoir, the ground levels being one. With climate change likely to make future water supplies less predictable, Thames Water anticipates that there will be a slight drop, of perhaps 5%, in its water availability in 2040 compared to 2012. Meanwhile it forecast "a total increase in population in our area of between 2.0 million and 2.9 million people by 2040 – three quarters of which is forecast in London. Overall, we forecast household water demand to increase by approximately 250 Ml/d" (mega litres per day). Household water is only one sector using water. Creating a huge new reservoir to replace one removed by a Heathrow runway would be an immense undertaking. One was proposed, and rejected, near Abingdon, in 2011. Even transporting water into the Thames from the Severn would have huge costs and environmental implications.
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Heathrow residents fears as 3rd runway threatens homes and their communities’ futures
Barely three years after plans for a third runway were scrapped by the incoming government and abandoned by Heathrow, the airport has restated its case and returned with even bolder expansion plans. One local historian living in Stanwell remembered the Terminal 4 inquiry: "I sat in the room for the Terminal 4 inquiry – not even Terminal 5 – and the planning inspector said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, I can promise you this is the very last one.' You can't believe them when they say this is the end." According to a single well-placed source, the draft shortlist to be presented by the Airports Commission on 17th December contained three options, each including a Heathrow runway. People due to be badly affected if Heathrow is allowed a runway fear it will "swallow up the borough". Although Stanwell Moor is threatened with total destruction, the people in its 850 homes will be compensated and can move away – regarded by some, at least, as better than being trapped in unsaleable houses. A local councillor said: "I liken it to a funeral – it's not so much the people who die as the ones who are left behind." Communities both to the north and the south fear the dreadful prospect of being left close to the end of a runway, but not near enough to be demolished.